The trip doesn't take too much longer from the Forest. The group that had gathered has dispersed somewhat though. You swing over to the living quarters and drop down to find the doors open, Reimu just sitting down at a table within. You knock on the frame to signal your presence, and Reimu turns to you. You also notice Suika now at the other end of the table.

“Ah, hello,” Reimu says. “Back so soon?” she asks, resting her head in the palm of her hands, elbows on the table.

“Just thought I'd come by for a bit, since I've gotten some rather fruitful information with my time,” you say, just barely stepping through the doorframe. You're not really intending to stay long. “I swung by the Moriya shrine, since you had mentioned it. Suwako seems to have an idea of what was behind the earthquake, though she beat me pretty easily so I wasn't able to learn anything.” Reimu blinks in surprise.

“You went out there for- wait, you fought with Suwako for information?” Reimu gasps. “I was just babbling because I was upset, I didn't actually- You said she knows something?” she asks, shifting her posture, looking like she's getting ready to stand up, then changing her mind. “Did she hint at anything?”

“You're probably going to have to go out there yourself and ask her,” you say, rubbing your shoulder in memory of the rather thorough stabbing you've received to it recently. “I thought you'd like to know though, your shrine collapsing and all. I thought I could help you out by tracking down a lead for you so you didn't have to putz around looking for information. That's all I really came by for, actually.” Reimu once again seems conflicted about getting up or staying seated, but she still remains indecisive on which she'd rather do. “I'll be off then, enjoy your tea.” You turn and start to step out.

“Hey, wait!” Reimu calls suddenly. “Stay for a bit and have some tea, I want to hear more.” You stop and half-turn. Reimu's in sort of a half-crawling position now, with Suika looking on with a drunken grin. “It's almost ready, actually.” Well, maybe you could spend a bit of time here. As much as you'd like to head out and get back to clearing up your schedule remaining for the day, it could wait a few minutes more, perhaps.

---

Been kind of lazy with updates the last few days, haven't made new threads for either of my stories until now, but I've been getting at something I hope can make up the downtime, since a few days ago I realized that the one year anniversary of Flight was nigh. That day passed yesterday, and I should have my idea finished by tomorrow.

[X] Stay for some tea
[X] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit

Dunno what else to write in, though. Might delete and repost if someone else comes up with a better one.

[X] Stay for some tea
[X] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.

Raymoo is mue.

[x] Stay for some tea; you've earned yourself a break.
[x] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.
-[x] Suwako claimed to have some definite ideas on who it was who did this. As to why she didn't tell you, you believe it may merely have been to goad you into a fight. Your skill with the divine Kusanagi is likely the reason she had challenged you.
-[x] She seemed to be fond of transmuting her broom into various implements of war and impaling you with them. Wood rots and metal rusts; you tried to break them by manipulating misfortune, but you overexerted yourself and nearly slipped into a coma. However she did say that Kanako beat her a long time ago not by using wind tricks, but by rusting away her weapons.
-[x] She had said that more skill in basic swordplay would've given you the advantage. You had tried keeping yourself at range--curse bombs, exploding dolls, wind blasts, distance manipulation--and while you surprised her plenty of times, and slipped out of her traps, you were never able to effected any real damage.
-[x] Suwako expressed reservations at the suggestion of fighting Reimu, because she was 'only' a human. Since she'll be underestimating her, Reimu might be able to win simply by applying maximum force right from the start, while Suwako is still trying to gauge her ability.
-[x] As for why you're telling her this, it's not just because you want this incident resolved, but because Suwako said the only person who could defeat her is a stronger god: In your opinion, that kind of hubris isn't suiting for a resident of Gensokyo.
[x] Let her know that something else is going on with the mountain that Kanako, Hina, and the kappa are involved with, something to do with digging under the mountain, but that it seems to be unrelated to this incident and is something that Suwako wanted to distance herself from publicly. Kanako and Sanae didn't seem to be home, but as for Kanako that was because she was looking around for whoever it was that started that tornado.
[x] Unrelatedly, she also told you why you ended up in Gensokyo; apparently outsiders who have traces of divine blood tend to end up in Higan. That's also why you can use the Kusanagi and is a reasonable enough justification to stick around.
[x] You ran into three witches having an argument on their way here. Marisa being the aggressor as usual. If Marisa stops by looking for you or the sword, tell her that she needs to more appreciative of her friends; she'd get wants if she'd only swallow her pride and ask for it like a decent human being.
[x] When the conversation runs dry, thank her for the tea and wish her good luck on kicking Suwako's butt. You have your own business to take care of, and Reimu might want to confront Suwako before Sanae and Kanako get back from whatever it is they're doing (and complicate things further).
[x] "And if you ever run into a six-fingered bus driver..."

(We were hit by a bus, weren't we?)

Here we win Raymoo points by letting her know that we know how things work in Gensokyo, making light of the vanity of Outsiders who haven't made the steps to integrate themselves as harmoniously as we have.

The Marisa part is to show we really meant what we said to Reimu before, when we (then in the form of Hina) had our argument about Alice, about being personally invested in the people here. We've already told her Marisa was depressed, but Reimu didn't have any ideas on how to go about helping her (which is completely reasonable, considering how introverted and extroverted Reimu and Marisa are respectively); this here at least gives Reimu a way to help her friend in a manner that doesn't overexert herself emotionally.

Finally, we're giving her a heads up on SA. Not so that she attacks them now, but so she knows where to start her investigation when it's time.

[X] Stay for some tea.
[X] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.

>Reimu's in sort of a half-crawling position now

Something about this is incredibly hot.

>>86882
>Fuckhuge write-in

Jesus christ what

>>86887
>Something about this is incredibly hot.
But would you hit it?

>>86889

I would, now that this Reimu has mellowed out she's surprisingly attractive.

[ze] >>86882

[X] Stay for some tea.
[X] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.

>>86888

What can I say? I really like this Reimu. I have ever since she poisoned our tea.

>>86882
[x] This

[x] Stay for some tea.
[x] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.

>>86891
Agreed, this is definitely my favorite Reimu in any story so far.

[x] Stay for some tea.
[x] Explain all you've learned so far, maybe a few tips on Suwako's fighting style would help Reimu a bit.

You step back inside with a grin.

“Guess I'll take a tea break,” you say, and Reimu pushes herself up onto her heels and then stands.

“Alright, have a seat and I'll be right back,” she says, hurrying off out of the room. Taking her advice, you step over to the table and take a seat.

“Sounds like you've had an exciting day,” Suika says, leaning forward. “First you beat me up then you decide to fight a god?” She chuckles a bit, then lifts her gourd from under the table.

“It seems like I'm not the only one either,” you say, recalling the scene you encountered at Marisa's house. “I think a lot of people are going to be on edge for a while after the shrine collapsing.” Reimu returns with a tray of tea, as well as some crackers. Before Reimu even reaches the table, a small Suika drops down onto the tray and makes off with two of the crackers hoisted over it's head, flying lazily back towards the waiting Suika. While an unusual sight for you to witness, the fact that Reimu doesn't even bat an eye at it is a fairly clear sign that this occurs fairly regularly.

“So, you were saying you went and fought Suwako?” Reimu asks, setting the cups on the table and pouring your cup first.

“Yeah,” you say, accepting the cup that Reimu pushes towards you. You grab yourself a few crackers as well from the tray. “Since you had said something about her, I thought it was worth checking out, even if you were rambling.” Reimu smiles a bit at that, but doesn't say anything, letting you continue. “Since I recalled that she was the Earth Goddess, it was a lead regardless. Even if she wasn't the one behind it, she should have an idea at least, right?”

“She would, wouldn't she?” Reimu goes along, posing a rhetorical question. “Continue?”

“Well, she really kicked my ass,” you state, taking a drink from your cup. “I didn't expect someone like her to be so good with a weapon. Or weapons, rather. Seems she's got quite a history in combat, said something about her strength taming a bunch of other gods fighting off curse gods and other gods.” Reimu suddenly sputters on her tea.

“Wait, taming other gods? Do you mean-” Reimu starts, then sits bolt upright in surprise. “No way. That was Suwako?” Seems Reimu knows something about this whole background. She's slightly red in the face at having spilled tea, and she wipes at the drops spilled on the table and her clothes with a rag retrieved from the tray. “It would have to be if that's the case...”

“What's this about?” you ask.

“Suwako must have been the one that founded an ancient kingdom in Yamato. I remember hearing the legend as a little girl from my mother, about a powerful warrior god that defeated the Mishaguji and united them to become the leader of a kingdom,” Reimu says, content with her cleaning and dropping the rag back onto the tray. “That she fought off all other gods attempting to overthrow her until she was defeated by deception. To think that was Suwako of all people...” Reimu trails off into slightly nervous laughter. “And that I beat a legend like that at danmaku...”

“I've got to commend you for that then,” you say as Reimu reclaims her tea and takes another drink. “If she shoots anything like she fights, she's got to be one hell of an opponent. Most annoying attack she hit me with was this one where she sent clones of herself after me trailing exploding danmaku-”

“Oh! I hate that one!” Reimu interjects, grimacing a little. “She did that to me too.”

“Well, I had it a bit worse, since her clones were also trying to impale me on spears at the same time,” you say, smiling weakly, recalling the attack. Reimu returns the grin and sighs a bit.

“Yeah, that sounds rough,” she says consolingly. You get around to taking a bite of one of your crackers, washing it down with some tea. “What else happened?”

“Aside from her being really good at close range combat, she didn't do much else fancy. The only other thing was she apparently summoned up a giant tunnel of magical rock to keep me from getting too far, then used the close proximity to trap me. I just barely managed to get out of that was it were. I called up some winds with the Kusanagi, and when Suwako vented the tunnel to let out some pressure, I broke through the wall,” you recount to an attentive Reimu, holding a cracker in her mouth while you speak. She starts to chew on it while you pause for a moment to take more tea. “I did get some interesting information as well regarding myself and my connection to this sword.”

“Oh yeah?” Reimu asks, removing the cracker.

“Apparently I'm descended from divinity, which is what allows me to call the Kusanagi, and probably what allows me to use it like I can,” you say. Reimu nods slightly, showing a slight amount of surprise.

“Did you find out what you descended from?” Reimu asks. Now that she mentions it, you feel you should have asked. Even if you might not have been able to use whatever power you might have had, knowing would be pretty cool.

“No,” you say, shrugging. “I guess I was still kind of stunned at the revelation to ask.” Reimu frowns slightly.

“That's too bad,” she says.

“Kind of got off track slightly though,” you say. “At least, if you still want to hear what little more I have to say about Suwako's fighting style.”

“I think I get it enough,” Reimu says, topping off her cup slightly. “Though I'm not sure I could fight her.”

“Suwako said that about you too, actually,” you say, laughing a little. “Though more because she's probably worried she could actually hurt you. I'm just a ghost, so I won't die from being stabbed with spears and swords.”

“I could go beat her up!” Suika sings from her side of the table, having polished off her tea and crackers already and practically laying on the table to reach the teapot. “That way you don't have to go, Reimu.” Reimu smiles a little, then leans against the table, propping her head up on her arm.

“Mmm, I think I'd like to go myself actually, even if it is to see how they're doing over there,” Reimu says, looking out the door. Oh, right, that reminds you.

“It's sort of unrelated to the whole thing with Suwako, but it seems the kappa are in a huge fuss over something as well, and they're making plans to dig deep into the mountain,” you say, recalling the project the kappa are working on. Both Reimu and Suika seem intrigued by this.

“The kappa are digging through the mountain?” Reimu asks thoughtfully.

“Digging underground?” Suika continues in the same vein, smiling a strange half-drunk half knowing smile. “That's interesting.”

“I wonder if there's some kind of treasure they found out about,” Reimu says, then she comes back to the room and takes another sip from her tea. “Seems there's all kind of things going on all of a sudden,” she says, starting to smile. “Despite what's happened lately, I'm starting to feel a little excited.” You smile back at Reimu, and then look down at your empty cup and one remaining cracker.

“I think it's about time I head off,” you say, backing away from the table slightly and scooping up the cracker that remains.

“Hold on,” Reimu says, producing a talisman from a pocket and holding it out to you. “Take this,” she continues, waving it slightly and making it flap around. You take it and look it over. Yep, it's a talisman of some sort. “Hakurei good luck charm!” Reimu says, smiling and giving giving you a thumbs up. “You deserve something good for your selfless contribution to the shrine, so this should amplify your good fortune, as thanks.” You smile and nod in reply, tucking the paper slip into a pocket.

“Thank you Reimu,” you say, standing once again.

“Ooh, free charms! That's like second base for Reimu!” Suika blurts, getting quite a reaction from the shrine maiden.

“You be quiet!” Reimu shouts, throwing a cracker across the table as Suika. In her drunken state, she doesn't seem to be fast enough to react, and the cracker explodes into cracker fragments and crumbs on impact with her forehead. Suika just laughs.

“Oni never lie!” Suika cheers as you step towards the door. Reimu looks over at you, slightly red in the face but also smiling.

“You hurry up and leave before she says something more embarrassing,” Reimu says, giving you a nod. You return the gesture, and with a cracker salute, you head off, munching on your remaining treat as you contemplate your choices. It's starting to get into late evening, and you still have a bit more action on your plate as you recall, though whether or not you'll go back to Hakugyokuro right away is up in the air still as well.

---

Well, now that I know people like this Reimu, I'm afraid I might accidentally end up changing her by attempting to make sure I don't.

[x] The Prismrivers said a ghost magician by the name of 'Mima' used to hang around the Hakurei Shrine. Ask Reimu if she knows anything about her whereabouts before you leave.
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic. You could try to work some kind of deal with Marisa or maybe you could learn something from her about Mima's whereabouts. At the very least, you'd be able to tell Alice to go to Hakugyokurou to fetch Wriggle and her dress for measuring and hemming. You also need to talk with Patchouli about the situation with the Scarlet Devil household.
[x] You don't want to lose this gift. Tie it around you ankle, your wrist, or pinky finger (depending on the size of the amulet). You could also tie it around the sword hilt like you did with the strings.
[x] Inventory

>Youmu/Yuyuko's route
>Wriggle's femminization
>Aya's interview
>Playing with Cirno
>Studying magic for that doll spell
>Doing your part of the deal with Mokou
>Scarlet problems

This was the list.

We did training with Youmu this morning. When we left, Yuyuko was doing her part of SWR with Youmu.

Wriggle got her dress and is currently residing at Hakugyokurou for a while. Alice needs to take her measurements and tailor the dress, which Wriggle has already got.

Aya rescheduled our appointment for tomorrow.

Playing with Cirno is a bust, seeing as it's dusk already.

We checked up on Keine in the village; she was fine and we can tell Mokou that when we return to Hakugyokurou.

Magic for the doll spell may involve Mima or Marisa. But it definitely involves Alice and Patchouli. If we don't learn anything about Mima from Reimu, the next most likely place is Marisa. And since Alice and possibly Patchouli will be in the area, there's other things we could do if Marisa isn't in a talking mood.

Remilia is what is going to be the deciding factor in the amount of time we have, since she should be waking soon. Hopefully we'll have gotten Wriggle and Alice met up before we're spirited away. Or maybe if Patchouli is still at the forest, we'll just go back with her to the mansion.

>“Oni never lie!” Suika cheers as you step towards the door. Reimu looks over at you, slightly red in the face but also smiling.
>“You hurry up and leave before she says something more embarrassing,” Reimu says, giving you a nod.

How candid.

>Well, now that I know people like this Reimu, I'm afraid I might accidentally end up changing her by attempting to make sure I don't.

In the course of the games she befriends nearly every major inhabitant of Gensokyo, even if she seems like a huge bitch or a rampaging engine of destruction. Everyone always settles down for tea and conversation afterward, and no one ever seems to hold a grudge. Sort of resides in liminal state between a rampaging engine of destruction and the lazy waki miko.

But here it's easy to see the chemistry. Everybody who she's friends with, even when they do help her, they end up causing just as much trouble. But along comes this guy, and they have the requisite altercation, but find out it's someone she can relate to (having both been Outsiders) and for once this friend actually does something nice for her of his own volition, without any ulterior motives.

I remember Alice's magic strings, the sword, the butterfly clip. Now Reimu's talisman.
As to what the talisman does, I imagine it's not so much a good luck charm, and more like Suika suggested, a keepsake, and an ID tag, declaring you as property. That itself may be protective. On the other hand, we should be careful about who we let see it (e.g., Yuyuko), or maybe we can hide it in plain sight? Slap it on your forehead and claim she 'sealed' you? Yuyu would find that funny.

Oh, when Kenshiro 'dies' (or at least his public persona) he's going to break a lot of hearts.

>>86971

>You could try to work some kind of deal with Marisa

Why the hell would we want to give up the Kusanagi.

>>86963
>“Digging underground?” Suika continues in the same vein,
Do-ho! ...Excavation.

>>86972
Excellent question. I don't believe we do.

>>86971
>Doing your part of the deal with Mokou
...Call me crazy, but I think that's far from over.

>>86975

We'll have to give Kusanagi back eventually, preferably after we've become a much more formidable fighter.


[x] Go back to Hakugyokurou and get some rest. You'll need it if you're going to talk/confront Remilia.

>>86976

Bullshit. Why the fuck should we give up our weapon? Becoming formidable doesn't mean you give up your only advantage.

That's a fucking retarded idea.

[x] Go back to Hakugyokuro and get some rest.

[x] Go back to Hakugyokuro and get some rest.

We've had a long day.

>>86977

It's also a family keepsake for Marisa. It means a lot to her. Besides, we can't be trying our best to help everyone in Gensokyo only to turn around and take the one thing away from Marisa that she truly cares about.

>>86981

Oh sure! Let's give up the awesome weapon because Marisa got a little sad! I guess we'll give up everything we find if it'll make a Touhou happy.

Never mind the fact that if we give up the weapon we're basically helpless. We went to the effort of getting magical strings from Alice just to remotely control the sword.

We can't make people happy if we can't even protect ourselves.

If there ever comes a chance to give up the sword to make her happy, you can be damn sure I'll vote against such a stupid choice.

[x] Go back to Hakugyokuro and get some rest by reading something in the library.

>>86982

I never said to give it to her now. I said to give it back after we've become a formidable fighter ourselves, and won't need Kusanagi to kick ass. Preferably right before Enlightenment or Judgement, whichever comes first.

>>86981
>take the one thing away from Marisa that she truly cares about.
Where's this? Because I don't remember Marisa mentioning it was important to her family, aside from "THAT USED TO BE MINE GIVE IT BACK YOU BLOODY BASTARD."

>I said to give it back after we've become a formidable fighter ourselves

I can honestly say that this is the only part of your argument that pisses me off the most.

>and won't need Kusanagi to kick ass.

There is never enough chances to give yourself more firepower to kick more ass.

>[x] Go back to Hakugyokuro and
>get some rest.

GHOSTS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY

And even if they did, you still have Eirin's Stimutacs!

This is the equivalent of sticking our thumbs up our collective asses while the world around us tears itself to pieces.

Wriggle and the dress is there, but without Alice to do the fitting, we are of no use to her.

>Why the hell would we want to give up the Kusanagi.

Nobody is suggesting that. What is being suggested is something Yukari mentioned: She needs Alice's notes to do her research. We can get those to her, and she'll busy herself with whatever it is she's studying, instead of harassing us or Alice or Patchouli.

We ourselves need her, or rather through her, Mima, not only to complete the Animate Doll spell, but to deliver Youmu's letter to Youki.

>>>Doing your part of the deal with Mokou
>...Call me crazy, but I think that's far from over.

It won't be over until we get Flandre a new blood supply; it's night now, and she'll be even more voracious. This requires resolving the Remilia problem. Until then, Flandre will be dragging a half-dead Mokou around everywhere goes, unless Mokou can become conscious long enough to set Hakugyokurou on fire and escape.

Remilia will be sending Sakuya to teleport people into the mansion as part of SWR, if she hasn't already done so. With Patchouli's aid and our invisibility and phasing, we can take Remilia by surprise while Sakuya is out. Otherwise, we run the risk of being caught by Sakuya unawares, then disarmed, dragged, and forcefully set prostrate in front of the obsessive little princess.

>>86987

If you don't like it then make a write-in.

>>86988

[x] Inventory
[x] The Prismrivers said a ghost magician by the name of 'Mima' used to hang around the Hakurei Shrine. Ask Reimu if she knows anything about her whereabouts before you leave.
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.
- [x] Tell Alice that Wriggle is at Hakugyokurou with her dress and needs she needs to have her measurements taken so it can be hemmed and fitted. Ask her to go on ahead of you, you'll take Patchouli home.
- [x] As for Marisa, you can help her find the notes she needs legitimately. You've lived in Alice's house, so you should know where to find the notes she needs.
- [x] As for the sword: Fuck no, you're keeping it.
- [x] Ask Marisa about Mima.
- [x] Escort Patchouli back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You have matters to discuss with her mistress; if she cannot be seen with you, you can turn yourself invisible along the way.

[x] Inventory
[x] The Prismrivers said a ghost magician by the name of 'Mima' used to hang around the Hakurei Shrine. Ask Reimu if she knows anything about her whereabouts before you leave.
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.
- [x] Tell Alice that Wriggle is a Hakugyokurou with her dress and needs she needs to have her measurements taken so it can be fitted hemming. Ask her to go on ahead of you, you'll take Patchouli home.
- [x] As for Marisa, you can help her find the notes she needs legitimately. You've lived in Alice's house, so you should know where to find the notes she needs.
- [x] As for the sword: Fuck no, you're keeping it.
- [x] Ask Marisa about Mima.
- [x] Escort Patchouli back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You have matters to discuss with her mistress; if she cannot be seen with you, you can turn yourself invisible along the way.

[x] Inventory
[x] The Prismrivers said a ghost magician by the name of 'Mima' used to hang around the Hakurei Shrine. Ask Reimu if she knows anything about her whereabouts before you leave.
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.
- [x] Tell Alice that Wriggle is a Hakugyokurou with her dress and needs she needs to have her measurements taken so it can be fitted hemming. Ask her to go on ahead of you, you'll take Patchouli home.
- [x] As for Marisa, you can help her find the notes she needs legitimately. You've lived in Alice's house, so you should know where to find the notes she needs.
- [x] As for the sword: Fuck no, you're keeping it.
- [x] Ask Marisa about Mima.
- [x] Escort Patchouli back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You have matters to discuss with her mistress; if she cannot be seen with you, you can turn yourself invisible along the way.

Does Marisa know that we're the spirit that Komachi and Siki are looking for? If she doesn't already then we should be careful when looking through Alice's house. Shes likely to go running to Higan if she find out.

>Does Marisa know that we're the spirit that Komachi and Siki are looking for? If she doesn't already then we should be careful when looking through Alice's house. Shes likely to go running to Higan if she find out.

I don't think it's possible for a living person to enter Higan, at least not without Komachi's assistance. Komachi herself is well aware of who we are; we left her a note telling her as much.

Besides, knowing Marisa, she's more likely to go to Reimu first if she's looking for someone to wreck vengeance upon us. A good thing, since we have that angle covered.

>[x] Inventory

Objects:
Your very own body!
Yuyuko's Form-Granting Hair clip
Old Kusanagi
Eirin's Shady Drug of Vitality [50pc]
Alice's Magic Ring (1)
Hakurei Talisman of Good Fortune

Memories:
Alice Set (90%)
Hina Set Complete
Mokou Set (1%)

Abilities:
Pitiful Cold Manipulation
Perfect Doll Manipulation
Perfect Curse Nullification
Meager Swordsmanship
Weak Wind Control
*Strong Wind Control

Extra:
Boon of Good Fortune [Lessens the damage of bad events and improves rewards of good events]
Divine Lineage - Dormant State [An ancient power lies deep within your soul, can it be unlocked?]
Hakurei Shrine Blessing [You find everything you do is a little more potent]
Clue Tokens: 6 (I think.)

It's growing!

>>86998

Can we get relationship status as well?

>>86996
So, then, What happens when Marisa has nobody to turn to? Reimu won't help her, Patchy and Alice are obviously against her, so what then? She'll come after us is what. And you know what they say about a cornered mouse.

>>87007
>Reimu won't help her, Patchy and Alice are obviously against her, so what then? She'll come after us is what.

You don't understand Marisa's mentality at all. A young girl who lives in a house alone in the middle of Forest of Magic so she can perform and conduct magic experiments. This is the kind of person who gains and loses friends & enemies easily, because while she's energetic, engaging, and competitive, she is also possessed of strong personal drive and singular focus which makes her seem selfish. She is a witch, not some social gadfly to become distraught because a nobody stole a piece of junk that she has no use for. Her research is what is important to her, and if we can accommodate that, she'll likely have forgotten about us entirely by the time she finishes calculating how many mushrooms she'll need for her experiment.

>>87007
We're talking about Marisa here, not Nazrin.

C'mon, Kira. Focus!

>>86999

>relationship status

Character Route : Romance
Alice 93% 95%
Chen 5% 15%
Cirno 13% 26%
Daiyousei 5% 18%
Hina 100% 88%
Komachi -- 23%
Merlin 6% 17%
Lunasa -- 15%
Lyrica -- 15%
Nitori 75% 15%
Ran 1% 10%
Reimu 19% 38%
Sanae 10% 17%
Suwako 4% 19%
Kanako -- 10%
Yuyuko 29% 38%
Youmu 10% 24%
Patchouli 19% 19%
Flandre 23% 29%
Remilia 15% 35%
Sakuya -- 5%
Meiling 35% 33%
Tokiko 3% 14%
Wriggle 38% 32%
Rikako 40% 36%
Mokou 2% 18%
Suika 40% 20%

This reminds me I have to find a way to make that Hina scene work... maybe I should just write it as it should have happened then retcon it not happening like how I did with Alice. Hmm.

>>87023

Just write it as a "what could have been." type of scene and don't link it to this thread's continuity.

>>87007
>What happens when Marisa has Nobody to turn to?

>This reminds me I have to find a way to make that Hina scene work... maybe I should just write it as it should have happened then retcon it not happening like how I did with Alice. Hmm.

That would do nicely sir.

>>87023

This sort of thing is what everybody would have rather you done in the first place.

Update Gensou Coil.

>This reminds me I have to find a way to make that Hina scene work...

That misfortune absorbed from Chen, because he didn't dispose of it as she usually does (making Nagashi-bina dolls), he took it with him when he switched bodies, where it exerted a negative effect on his luck by getting himself sent into Youmu and then immediately excised and almost destroyed.

Hina noticed this and simply relieved him of this misfortune in the most personal manner a curse goddess can.

>>87203
A game of chess?

>>87100
More like Update Flight of the Lost Soul.

I wish I could explain what happened. One day I'm writing an update for Flight, I stop to take a break, and then it's 3 days later without progress.

Let me change that then.

>>87234

Hooray!

>Abilities:
>Pitiful Cold Manipulation
>Perfect Doll Manipulation
>Perfect Curse Nullification
>Meager Swordsmanship
>Weak Wind Control
>*Strong Wind Control

Where do we stand in connection with our ghostly abilities? Undead immunity, incorporeality, invisibility, phantom noises, possession strength...."

I assume why Komachi's distance manipulation is not mentioned, while Cirno's ice is, is that we can't actually manipulate distances and Komachi was just fucking with us?

>>87297

I guess my mind processes the ghostly abilities as being so innately a part of you that it doesn't even register as external abilities. Plus, damage resistance would be passive, and the rest are basically on/off with no real difference in strength. That leaves Possession strength, which would probably be around the Average level, but varies in effectiveness by who you're targeting.

The reason the Distance Manipulation isn't listed is because you have to have successfully used the ability at least once. You did only learn the 'trick' to it, after all. That aside, I'm not considering it to be an innate ability of Komachi's either, since there are multiple ferry operators on the Higan I'd imagine, and I doubt that only one of them would have an ability essentially required to fulfill the job description.

A note on the lack of updates still, I'm having an incredibly difficult time getting to writing this damn update. Something about it does not want to be written, and I'm having a hard time even forcing myself to. I chip away at it every couple hours but ultimately fail to complete it. I'll see how today goes, but if I don't get anywhere, I'll be taking a break for a few days to get my mind off the lingering annoyance of being unable to best words on a goddamn screen.

>>87316

You do what you gotta do man.

But feel free to write the Hina scene in lieu of any updates, if inspiration strikes.

More than the scene itself, it'd be handy to know how much 'dirt' there is that could be dug up on him, and as to what it might mean for future interactions with Hina and others that such an action might effect (Nitori, the mountain in general).

Being that the Hina possession route is officially 'complete', it'd be nice to have a glance at what kind of lasting changes the protagonist has effected in her life, and confirmation that Nobody really is building a Better Gensokyo in his endeavors.

Does anyone have threads 20 and 21 of this story saved? The archives are incomplete.

>>87764

I have the raw text files, if that's good enough.

>>87765
As long as I can catch up on the story it's fine.

Have some Nightbug for your trouble.

>>87766

http://www.box.net/shared/t4ukkac9to FotLS 20
http://www.box.net/shared/bfaka3jnt5 FotLS 21

Cannot deliver fast enough for sleepy Wriggle.

Hooray!

>>87769
I'm pretty sure only Kira is liable to get this reference... but...
"There's been... A Murder!"

>>87770
Yes, isn't it obvious?

*Pushes a giant magnet down the hallway*

>>87771
Not that obvious, no.

Unless you've actually seen the comedy 'Lab Rats' - which sadly lasted only six episodes. Oh well.

updates?

Sure, why not.

Holy fuck I'm still writing.

[x] The Prismrivers said a ghost magician by the name of 'Mima' used to hang around the Hakurei Shrine. Ask Reimu if she knows anything about her whereabouts before you leave.
[x] Head back to the Forest of Magic.
- [x] Tell Alice that Wriggle is at Hakugyokurou with her dress and needs she needs to have her measurements taken so it can be hemmed and fitted. Ask her to go on ahead of you, you'll take Patchouli home.
- [x] As for Marisa, you can help her find the notes she needs legitimately. You've lived in Alice's house, so you should know where to find the notes she needs.
- [x] As for the sword: Fuck no, you're keeping it.
- [x] Ask Marisa about Mima.
- [x] Escort Patchouli back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You have matters to discuss with her mistress; if she cannot be seen with you, you can turn yourself invisible along the way.
[x] Go back to Hakugyokuro and get some rest by reading something in the library.

Just as you begin to set off, you stop. You just remembered something, and you want to ask Reimu about it. You drift back to the door, where things seem to have calmed down a bit. Suika's not in sight either, leaving Reimu sitting at the table alone.

“Hey,” you begin, causing Reimu to jump a little.

“Ah, geez, you scared me! I thought you left!” Reimu complains, starting to blush a little again.

“Sorry,” you apologize, even though you're grinning. “I just remembered something I wanted to ask you before I left.”

“Hm? What is it?” Reimu asks, sounding curious.

“About Mima, or her whereabouts to the best of your knowledge,” you state. Reimu's expression is unexpectedly serious with that comment.

“Why are you looking for her?” she questions you. You distantly recall her acting this same way when you had possessed Alice, though she softens quickly, shaking her head. “Ah, sorry, you're probably not looking for... well, I don't think you'd be a problem, but still...” Reimu trails off again, absently rubbing her temple. “She's a troublesome person, someone best not to have around, and not someone anyone should bother looking for. Least of all,” Reimu pauses, looking up at you. “I don't want someone like you falling under her influence.” As much as the idea of that bothers you, it's intriguing at the same time. Is Mima really that powerful, or is she just very persuasive, or is it something else?

“She already sounds troublesome, but I at least need to check my options for a particular goal I'm helping achieve,” you say, thinking of Alice.

“You're going to have to find her on your own,” Reimu says, sighing. “I really couldn't tell you where she went. If we're lucky, back to hell, but I doubt that.” Seems you're going to have to try to look for her the hard way after all. Worse comes to worse, you don't particularly need her, but there's no telling how long it would take for you to be able to fill the spot needed.

“Thanks for the information,” you say, floating back. “Sorry to bug you about this.” Reimu shakes her head.

“No problem, I wish I could be of more help actually. If anyone could make her tolerable, it would be you,” Reimu says with a smile. You're not quite sure how to react to that, though considering your track record so far you couldn't exactly dismiss the possibility. You still have other things to takes care of, however.

“I'm off then,” you say, turning and flying from the shrine grounds. Reimu calls out a farewell to you as you leave. First order of business is in the forest.

You pass by Marisa's house, where you had last seen the three. Unfortunately, they're not where you left them, though Marisa's door is open. Guess it makes sense that they're not still here fighting. You decide to split before Marisa notices you, if she's even home. You head towards the nearby peak of the tower that connects to Alice's house. You can see movement within her house, and so you swing low and drop by her front door. She must have seen you coming, since Shanghai opens the door for you before you can knock.

“Hello~” Alice calls from within as the door opens. “Coming back for something?” You see that Patchouli is here too, sitting further into the house, beyond the little workstation table, still covered with papers and books.

“I was wondering how that battle turned out,” you say, putting aside your other concerns for now. Alice crosses her arms and puffs her chest out with pride.

“Hmph! She calls herself a witch, but she's really more like an amateur with too much ego!” Alice states, chuckling slightly. “Or rather, she fought like one. She can be a bit of a hot-head at times, and loses focus quite easily. Your taunting her beforehand made it pretty easy to beat her.” Alice returns to a more neutral pose now. “By the way, have you come up with a solution to that problem I had for you?” Alice asks, tilting her head slightly towards Patchouli. Right, that.

“I still need a bit more time to get a solution,” you say, scratching your chin. “I hope you can wait.”

“Hmm, well there's not a strict deadline, but a quick answer would be much appreciated,” Alice says, and you notice Patchouli looking confused in the background. Naturally, it's probably better she not know.

“Understood. Also, there's the issue with Wriggle's clothing,” you jump to a different topic. “She should be waiting at Hakugyokuro, so if you wouldn't mind heading by there at some point to help custom fit it a little more...”

“Ah, okay,” Alice says as a doll floats towards her from another room, carrying a small vriefcase-like object. “Should I head out now?”

“Well, if it's no trouble to you,” you say, looking towards Patchouli. Alice looks too.

“You feeling better now Patchy?” Alice asks, and Patchouli nods.

“Much, thank you,” she says, standing up from the couch she had been seated on.

“You don't mind going back on your own, do you?” Alice continues, and Patchouli shakes her head, but you interject.

“Actually, I can escort her back home,” you say, getting a surprised reaction from Patchouli and a smile from Alice.

“Thank you for that,” Alice says, taking up the kit the doll brought her and heading towards the door. “I'm going to head out now then, you know the key,” she says with a wink, taking her shawl from a rack near the door as she passes. Patchouli reaches the door as well some time after Alice leaves.

“The key?” Patchouli asks. Ah, ha, well how can you explain this...

“Yeah, to lock Alice's door from the outside,” you say, stepping back. Patchouli follows you outside, and you close the door. With a short incantation, the locks on the door click and the door is secured.

“Oh, how would you know such a thing?” Patchouli asks, and you can't come up with anything better to reply with than a shrug.

“I guess I just saw it one day and remembered it. Seems I have a slight talent for magic,” you say, floating into the air. “Let's get going now though.” Patchouli doesn't really seem to believe your explanation, but she doesn't seem particularly troubled either, so she drifts along as well and the two of you start out for the lake.

“What was that problem Alice had for you?” Patchouli asks. Man you love difficult questions.

“Oh, it's just a silly issue I've been trying to figure out,” you say, trying your best to dodge the question.

“Well, if you tell me it, I suppose I could help you figure out an answer while we fly,” she says, pressing the question. Oh man...

“Th-that'd kind of defeat the purpose of figuring it out myself though,” you say, hoping to shed the topic. Patchouli hums in thought.

“That might be true, but isn't the fulfillment of an answer better than the weight of an unanswered question?” she asks, making a somewhat valid point in the process.

“I've been taking on a lot of people's problems lately,” you say with a sigh. “This is just another one of them in my course of helping people so I can reach enlightenment,” you bluff. While it is technically what you've been doing, you hope it's enough to stop the persistence. Patchouli hums a bit more.

“I guess you have a pretty good reason then,” she says. “Ascension through benevolence rather than piety.”

“Yes! Exactly,” you say, relieved to be off the subject finally. “Don't worry too much though. When I do come up with a solution, I'll let you and Alice know.”

“Oh? Well than, thank you for planning to indulge my curiosity,” Patchouli replies with a smile, then sneezes. “Hah, they're flaring up again...”

“Allergies?” you ask as Patchouli removes a light purple handkerchief and holds it over her face.

“Yes, it's an annoyance. All the magic I know and yet I don't have anything to help with such silly things like allergies and asthma,” she whines. “It's kind of embarrassing to be able to cast some of the magic I can yet not be able to stop a simple runny nose.”

“Sounds like a bother for sure,” you say. “At least in the outside world there are medicines for that kind of thing.”

“Really? It's been so long since we've come to Gensokyo, I don't really know anything about the outside world anymore it seems,” Patchouli groans from behind the cloth. “I wonder if that doctor has anything...” That's right, Eirin might be able to come up with something. Speaking of Eirin...

“Hey, you were resting at Alice's earlier because you weren't feeling well, right?” you ask, gaining a response of a nod. You reach into your pocket for that bottle of pills you had gotten back during the snowball fight.

“Truth be told, I'm still not feeling that good, but still better than I was. Today's not a good day... asthma flaring up, allergies, and... other problems...” Patchouli stammers a bit towards the end. With her face covered it's hard to really get any kind of idea what she might be feeling beyond the fact that she's avoiding eye contact at the moment.

“Then try one of these,” you say, opening the bottle and retrieving one of the capsules. Look like gelcaps, and you hand it over to Patchouli. “Swallow it whole.” Patchouli gives you a concerned look, but then pulls the handkerchief away and puts the pill in her mouth. She raises her hand, one of her fingers emanating a blue glow, and taps it against her mouth, then swallows.

“Better to take medicine with water,” Patchouli says, and then for a few seconds nothing happens. Once it starts to take effect though, it's evident, since Patchouli seems to brighten considerably. “Oh, I'm already feeling better.”

“That's good then,” you say, pocketing the bottle. Patchouli sniffles a little, then smiles.

“And my allergies have cleared up already too! That's something pretty incredible, is this from the outside?” she asks.

“Actually, I got them from Eirin through Alice a while ago, said that they would be good to use, guess they're better than I thought,” you say, smiling a little. Of course, you left out the part where you had suspected them of being poison or having some other kind of negative effect.

“I feel great all of a sudden,” Patchouli says, folding her handkerchief. “I haven't felt this good in a long time!” she says, then she begins to fly faster than she had been. “I can breathe clear, my head feels lighter, ah~” You catch up to Patchouli, grinning.

“Then let's pick up the pace then, if you're feeling fine,” you say. Patchouli smirks at you, then raises her arms above her head. With a quick swing towards her feet, a blast of wind emerges from her hands and she rockets off ahead of you. Despite the surprising burst of speed, you still manage to catch up to her again, even though now you're reaching your natural top speed. She really is feeling better it seems, since your knowledge of her from Alice's memories make a marked difference between her now and normally. In no time at all you breeze out of the edge of the forest and over the lake. Just the same, you reach the island in the lake in no time, and slow down as the two of you approach the house. That's when you notice Sakuya and Remilia outside. Placing a hand on the handle of the Kusanagi, you glide towards the ground with Patchouli.

“I'm back! Patchouli says as she lands, you following suit a few steps behind her. Remilia is sitting in the shade of a large parasol, sipping at tea while Sakuya stands by.

“You seem energetic today,” Sakuya says, seeming a little surprised by Patchouli's condition. Patchouli nods, and half-turns towards you.

“Kenshiro seems to have some kind of miracle medicine. He gave me some to help my allergies and it turns out it's made me feel healthy,” she says. Remilia laughs to herself softly over her tea.

“What's this? Trying to ingratiate yourself to me by helping the only true friend I have left?” Remilia asks, setting her teacup down. “Don't think you'll just get off with that alone.”

“I'm helping people as I see fit,” you say firmly. “If Patchouli's health is a problem and I have something that could help, then I will help. If a little sister has a broken heart that needs mending, I will help it heal, even if I have to fight to make it so.” Remilia laughs again, leaning forward in her seat.

“You're a pretty brave man, or you might just be a fool, thinking you can change things that don't involve you,” Remilia muses. You smirk at that comment.

“Then wouldn't that mean that you might be a fool for toying with people's fates, even if they don't involve you?” Remilia reacts negatively as expected, sitting up straight again.

“Such a mouth on you. I'd like to smack it right off,” Remilia says, crossing her arms. You ignore her for now, turning your attention to Sakuya.

“How about you? I'm sure that this whole thing affects you somehow as well,” you say. Sakuya doesn't flinch, she simply bows her head.

“I do as my lady wishes,” Sakuya replies cooly. “This is what she's decided, so this is how it must be.”

“So you're really okay with the workload? I've heard that you've been working a lot harder ever since Alice came into Patchouli's life, I'm sure this whole thing with the house splitting up is-”

“I do as my lady wishes,” Sakuya repeats, not sounding as cool this time. “That's all there is to it.”

“Hmm, I don't think that's all,” you say. Sakuya raises her head again, her eyes looking rather dark now. You notice that Remilia seems that she's about to say something, but she doesn't. In fact... she's not moving at all. Nothing is.

“What are you trying to do?” Sakuya asks. “You instigate a rebellion between the sisters and split up this household, and then you try to pin the blame of the issue on Remilia? Are you trying to cause trouble?”

“Are you really that naïve?” you ask, getting a glower from the maid. “Do you really think that Remilia is really not at the root of this? How you can serve the girl but not see the problem is such an amazing failure-” you're cut off by a knife whizzing past your head, and instinctively turn immaterial. More knives appear in Sakuya's hands as she looks around for any sign of you.

“It's not my place to question Remilia's decisions. She can see so much clearer than I can, it would be foolish to assume that she acts without reason. I believe in her, no matter how she acts, because she can see the end result of any course of action before she takes it,” Sakuya says, standing her ground while searching for you. You save her the trouble by appearing in front of her again, and within a second she flings her knives towards you. You make no effort to dodge, the blades simply stabbing into you and stopping. She throws another wave, and another, and you simply take the hits.

“Don't forget that I'm a ghost, even if I do feel the pain, something like this won't kill me,” you say, flickering your presence and causing all the knives to drop from your body. “It's because of this that I can take such dangerous courses that I do to fulfill my goals.”

“What kind of goals could you have that leads you through danger?” Sakuya asks, crossing her arms over her chest, apparently giving up on attacking you.

“Flandre misses her sister she loves, and it hurts her that all Remilia thinks of her is as a weapon. Meiling is brave enough to stand up against this behaviour as well and side with Flandre, and I can't just sit by and watch a young girl be upset because her older sister is a bitch.” Sakuya scowls again, but doesn't do anything yet. “Yes, Remilia knows what she is doing, she is trying to get her life back to the way it was, where she's on top and everyone else has to essentially worship her. I can't let that happen. Flandre wants her sister to love her, something that Remilia seems to have forgotten how to do. Meiling feels the same way, and for Remilia to take out her frustration at not having Patchouli's undivided attention anymore is simply childish. She's already hurt her own sister in order to try to make her understand to follow her obediently, and I won't let her hurt anyone else to get her way.”

“What makes you think I can allow you to do that?” Sakuya asks coldly.

“What makes you think you can stop me?” you reply. “You can't kill me, you can't even seriously hurt me,” you say, stepping forward. Sakuya retains her stance, but a knife suddenly appears in your chest. It doesn't stop you, you keep advancing, and more knives strike you, in the arms, legs, even the head. Each one pierces your form and stings for a few seconds before fading entirely. They don't stop until you're standing right in front of Sakuya, at which point she thrusts a hand forward, driving a knife into your chest with her own hands. Despite her attacks, she only looks frustrated.

“I hate undead,” Sakuya growls. “You're not afraid of pain, and you're impossible to kill. Remilia was the same way, and now look at me,” she continues, her eyes starting to water up a little. “For all my power, I still can't do anything.”

“You're the last piece of the puzzle,” you say. “You're the last thing in Remilia's life that she controls. If you leave her side, then that's all that's needed to seal it. I can make her realize the value of everyone she's neglected.”

“I can't do that,” Sakuya says, twisting the knife she's holding. “Even though this had never been the life I wanted, I'm used to it now. Remilia wouldn't allow me to leave her, and I no longer wish to leave her side.”

“Then you have two choices. I take you away from her by force, or you die,” you state, which causes Sakuya's expression to change for a second, te same second she loosens her grip on her knife. The one second you need to slap her hand away and lock yours on her throat. “The decision happens now.”

“Let go!” Sakuya gasps, plunging two knives into your eyes. For a second you're blinded, but you simply alter your appearance, eyes growing all over your head. “If I release this time bubble, Remilia will save me!”

“If you release the bubble, I'll already have control of your body,” you say, focusing energy into the palms of your hands. You're not strangling her, yet, but you do apply some pressure to keep her in the situation. Sakuya flickers, and disappears from your grasp, appearing a few steps away, holding her collar.

“I can't leave her,” Sakuya says, shaking slightly. “She won't let me leave.”

“You don't have a choice anymore, Sakuya,” you say, charging your energy again as you restore your normal form, dropping the knives through you. “You have no choice but to leave, and you will, even if I have to take control of your body.” Sakuya's eyes widen for a second as she comes to a realization.

“You! You're the one! The possessing-” she starts, but you don't let her finish. You unsheathe the Kusanagi into a wide swing, sending a blast of air at Sakuya. You're too close for Sakuya to react in time, and the shock of the action must have broken her concentration since you briefly notice the return of movement to the surroundings. Bracing herself against the wind, you take the opportunity to fly forward and drive a hand into the top of Sakuya's head, releasing the energy stored in your arm in a powerful blast that drops Sakuya face first into the ground.

“Who d- Wha- WHAT!?” you hear Remilia, having started saying what ever she was about to before the time pocket had been created, and she must have noticed what's going on already. It's too late for her to take action, however, with Sakuya face down on the ground in pain. “What did you do to Sakuya?” Remilia shouts, standing from her seat in such a hurry that she knocks it over. You just ignore her outburst, looking at the downed maid.

“It's all on you,” you say, floating higher into the air as Remilia closes towards you, but she stops, grimacing. You simply smirk at her. “What's wrong? Too bright for you?” Remilia's pissed again, and conjures a large red spear, but you've already disappeared into the ethereal. You circle back around to Patchouli, who has been standing by in worry that has only increased by the events taking place. You materialize briefly in front of her as Remilia flies around looking for you.

“What are you-!” she says, but you raise your hand to stop her.

“It might be best for you to stay with Alice for a while. If you can get inside and grab any more supplies to help Flandre in the meantime, then do so. If you can, help push the point to Sakuya about how important it is she leave with you. She's the final piece of this puzzle.” Patchouli looks panicked for a moment, but then she takes on a look of reassurance and nods before hurrying to help Sakuya. You make your escape from the mansion grounds invisibly so that Remilia doesn't try to follow you. You still have business to take care of back in the forest.

***

Back in front of Marisa's house, the door is still open. Might as well check it out. You swoop down, but are surprised to find Marisa just appearing in the entranceway. She sees you and frowns.

“What do you want? Back to screw around with me again?” she asks. You smirk a bit, and while you would like to, you've actually come to make a little bargain.

“First of all, I'd like to apologize,” you say, to which Marisa gives you an incredulous look. “You have your own method of doing things, and I had a hand in interfering with that and it's caused you trouble.”

“Yeah,” Marisa says, adjusting her hat slightly. “What, is that it?”

“No. I've come to make a trade,” you say. Marisa looks to improve her mood a little at the sound of that.

“Oh, you want to give me my sword back for those books, right?” she asks, leading herself to disappointment.

“No. Sorry to say, but this sword is staying with me. It's important to my work for now, but hear me out. I'm even more temporary than you. Where you 'borrow' things with the intent to return them after you die, I don't intend to keep this forever, however,” you pause, as Marisa's looking quite sour again. “This sword is yours, and I intend to return it to you one day. Until then though, I don't want you trying to start a fight to get it back.”

“That's not how it works,” Marisa grumbles, pacing her fists on her waist. “You've a lot of nerve telling me how you'll use my property.”

“Then this sword is mine, and you'll never have it back. When I ascend to divinity, it comes with me and returns to the heavens where it belongs,” you say, and that seems to trouble Marisa even more. “So which would you rather have? A divine artifact on extended loan, or no divine artifact at all?” She looks none to pleased to be getting treated like this, but you can tell that the idea of forever losing the sword is something she couldn't agree to.

“I could just blast you and take it back,” she says. You smile at that.

“Okay then, let's see,” you say, floating back into the sky. Marisa steps out after you and draws her mini-hakkero, pointing it towards you. There's a flash of light, and you fade out as a giant beam of light engulfs the area. After several seconds of sustained fire, the beam diminishes, leaving a first confident then bewildered Marisa behind until you reappear. “Turns out you can't hit me after all!” you say, which gets a second blast fired at you. This time you simply fade out and move aside, reappearing outside the edge of the beam and flying away as Marisa trails after you trying to catch you within the light. After another few seconds, the beam fades away and you fly down. She seems to be preparing another shot, and you simply vanish, moving around behind her, reappearing, then rapping her once on the head. She yelps in surprise and pain and wheels around, swinging her broom at you. The bristles smack you across the face, and you step back. “Oh, finally got me, but it seems I still have the sword.”

“Fine, whatever, I can't just blast you and take it back,” she says as you step away to try to avoid having her lunge for it at such close range.

“I do have some incentive to let me hold onto it, however,” you say, finally getting to your real intentions. Marisa looks none too impressed. “There's just one last question I have for you.”

“Yeah, what?” Marisa grumbles, removing her hat to adjust the ribbon, which had been slightly disheveled from the successive blasts from her hakkero.

“I'm looking for Mima's whereabouts,” you say. Marisa drops her hat.

“What?” she says, sounding rather stunned. “Mima? How do you even know?”

“I just do,” you say. “I've become aware of her existence as a fourth magician, someone needed to fulfill a spell, along with you, Alice and Patchouli.”

“Why do you need her? And wait, why am I included in this scheme of yours?” Marisa asks angrily.

“Because it's what's required. Patchouli has theorized a spell to create life in a doll to help with Alice's research into autonomy, and it requires four magic proficient casters. Mima already fills the requirement for the fourth, so if I can find her, I won't need to find or become the fourth,” you state. “And you can't say you don't want to take part in something like this, a monumental achievement in magic, to create something previously impossible.” Marisa looks stunned still, but closer to the side of happiness than disappointment now.

“Are you really helping something like that?” she asks.

“I'm sure you're aware of the progress Alice has made recently, right? This is the final step she needs,” you say. Marisa picks up her hat and puts it back on her head. “That's why, in exchange for my help in recreating the notes you need for your research, you let me hold onto the sword.” For once, Marisa actually looks like she's in a good mood.

“I can't say I like how you went about this, but to see, no, to take part in something so incredible, it would further my research by years, dozens of years even,” Marisa says with a widening grin. “That kind of level gain would be amazing, I can't bring myself to say no if it helps benefit me.” Marisa laughs slightly. “It kind of makes me think of Yukari, actually, how you can seem like a bad guy while making moves that benefit everyone without their knowledge. I guess that's why you won.” Haha, yeah...

“I thought that would cheer you up,” you say. “So, do you have any leads?”

“Well, she stayed at Reimu's shrine for a long while until she was finally driven out. She originally came back up from Hell, but in the time since the section she'd been alloted to was shut down, so she wouldn't have gone back...” Marisa stops to think, tapping her broom in thought. “If it's Mima... there's an old house way out in the mountains behind Reimu's shrine, kind of looks like it fell through the border rather than just appearing, so it's all busted up. She might be there, since it's the closest place. That's just a guess though...”

“Well, it's a start at least,” you say, looking back towards the mountain range. You're going to have to check that out some other time then. “Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem, and take good care of that sword!” Marisa shouts as you start to fly away. “Just because I'm folding to your bribe doesn't mean I'll be happy if you bust it up more!”

“I'll take it into consideration!” you shout back, which gets some complaints from Marisa, but by then you're too far away to make it out clearly. For now, it seems things are settled, and with nothing else on your mind to do today, you decide to head back to Hakugyokuro to relax.

***

Once back at the netherworld grounds, you head decide to look around a bit to see who is still around. To your surprise, you find Mokou and Flandre first, relaxing in the interior garden with Letty and Daiyousei. Alice and Wriggle are next in your search, pretty much as you expected with Alice in the process of stitching up the dress. Your search ends at the kitchen, where you unexpectedly find Cirno and Meiling preparing some kind of food while Yuyuko, Youmu, Tokiko and Ran chat at the table nearby.

“Ah, you!” Tokiko exclaims on sight, looking a little annoyed. “When am I going to get to go to the Scarlet Devil Library?”

“Sorry, sorry,” you apologize as everyone's attention falls on you. “There's a bit of turbulence around that place, so you might not be able to go for a bit. The house mistress is being difficult, so it's best that everyone stay away from there for a while.” Tokiko starts to sulk a little, glaring at you all the while. “I'll do my best to get you there as soon as possible, just relax in the meantime. Yuyuko, you don't mind having another guest on hand, do you?” you ask. Yuyuko perks up.

“Of course not! This place is always so dead, it's really fun to have a lot of people around, it's like a lively family,” she cheers, getting some smiles from everyone and a bit of embarrassed blushing from Tokiko.

“Well, there are still a lot of books left in the library to read...” Tokiko starts talking to herself. The ruckus in the kitchen starts to pick back up as everyone returns to their conversations and tasks. Whatever's being made it still seems a ways off, so you decide to waste some time by relaxing in the library. Your day has been pretty hectic, so some kind of quiet time would be nice. You head out of the kitchen area and start towards the library. You make it about halfway before you're ambushed by softness.

“You've been busy today~” Yuyuko says quietly, hanging over your shoulder. “What've you been up to, I wonder.”

“Settling business,” you say, lifting Yuyuko's arms off you and turning around to face her. “I kind of overextended my friendliness and now I'm trying to micromanage all sorts of problems, thanks in part to Yukari.

“Oh?” Yuyuko coos, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

“Despite how I've helped people, it seems that some of my actions have caused ripples, and I've been trying to still the pond while dealing with all the other problems that have come up, so that after I'm done, if I have to move on, things won't fall apart without me. I'd hate to have tried to do things for the betterment of others only to have things go wrong without me,” you say. Yuyuko looks a little sad.

“So you are planning on leaving?” she asks.

“Well, maybe,” you backpedal. “I still don't know how that's going to turn out. I might not have a choice when it comes to it.” Yuyuko frowns a bit, then turns right around back into a smile.

“If you do end up having to leave, I'll wish you well wherever you end up next. This is a serious affair, however,” she announces, parting her hands and grabbing yours. “Since it's unknown when you might have to go, then we've got to make the best of it to make sure we have some memorable times!”

“Sounds good,” you reply with a smile.

“Tomorrow, you're going to spend with me, so cancel all your standing plans!” Yuyuko declares. You just nod in response, starting to realize what she's getting at.

“Consider it done, then,” you say, and Yuyuko smiles, then floats backwards away from you.

“I'm off back to wait for dinner. I'll send someone for you when it's ready,” she says before floating off, and you continue your trip to the library, where you kill time waiting for the call to dinner. You spend a bit of time browsing the books on hand, varieties of fiction, old poem books and even several historical records of the Saigyouji family. It's just barely been an hour when Youmu shows up at the library door.

“Dinner's ready,” she says, calling your attention away from the book you had been reading. You set it aside and stand, heading towards the door. Youmu backs up as you reach the door and starts walking ahead of you as you leave. “Shame what happened to the shrine, huh?” Youmu starts.

“Yeah, thankfully she wasn't hurt,” you say.

“Yeah, thankfully,” Youmu repeats. “Even though I've never quite been close to Reimu, I'd have felt bad if she was hurt.”

“There's a lot that could go wrong if Reimu had been hurt by the shrine collapse,” you say. “I guess that's part of the reason why I've decided to take some time to try to find out what's behind it, and the weather.”

“Oh ho?” Youmu chuckles. “You've only been around a short time and you already think you're going to go out solving incidents?”

“Well, I did fight Suika to a standstill, though I was beaten pretty easily by Suwako,” you recount.

“What, seriously!?” Youmu gasps. “You mean you've already started?”

“Well, I don't know if you could say I've 'started' anything, really, I still don't have much of an idea what I'm going to look for to get to the bottom of this,” you say. Youmu sighs.

“That's how it tends to be. Still, if you've already started hunting for clues, then as your master I shouldn't be slacking off!” Youmu starts getting fired up.

“Master, eh?” you joke. Youmu looks up at you, wearing an expression of pride.

“Of course! You're underneath me when it comes to Hakugyokuro heirarchy as my student, and when it comes to mastering the art of swordplay, you answer to me!” Youmu states proudly. You get the one up by ruffling her hair. You're still a good foot taller than her as it were.

“Big talk for someone so short,” you state, and Youmu bats your hand away, giving you a short glare.

“Don't condescend your master!” she barks.

“Sure thing,” you reply.

The rest of the walk to the dining area is silent, but rather short thankfully. The results of the unusual pairing between Meiling and Cirno result in a much more ordinary meal, with a variety of Chinese and Japanese dishes you assume were made by Meiling, with several sweeter treats mixed in, things like fruit salad and shaved ice, which definitely had to have been Cirno's job. There's even a special plate of food made for Flandre, who joins at the table with everyone. It's a usual noisy occasion.

“By the way, Kenshiro,” Ran speaks up from across the table during the meal. “Yukari's mentioned that she'd like to speak to you. Would you like to talk to her after dinner?” You feel a slight unease at the idea, worried about any number of things she might want out of you. The idea that she's seeking to exploit you in some way is still in the forefront of your mind, afterall, and you can't help but be suspicious. Maybe you could avoid it...

[] Opt out
[] Go along with it

---

OH MY GOD LOOK AT ALL THOSE WORDS

[x] Go along with it.

I wonder what Yukari~n has in store for us.

[x] Go along with it.

>>86862

I HNNNNGGGG every time I see this OP pic on the front page.
Yeah, I like Reimu. But alas, my kind seems to be a dying breed here on THP.

>>88087
>OH MY GOD LOOK AT ALL THOSE WORDS
>WORDS WORDS WORDS
>B^U

[x] Go along with it.

>>88093

The more I write her, the more I like her.

>>88093

It's not Reimu fantards (myself included).
It's the general lack of living Updateasarus's that is the dying breed on THP.

Holy Moses that is a wall

[x] Go along with it.

Ken should be seen to be confident that he can take whatever Yukari can throw at him, even if he isn't.

[x] Go along with it.

[ze] Go along with it.

Lord, that's not just a wall, that's an entire building. Like a Fallout shelter, maybe.

I think this is the first actual option we've been given in a while.

>>88125

Ow.

I know I'm Slowpokin' it up TO THE MAX here, but if that Hina scene is to be done, there must be spinning involved.

Two consecutive fight scenes with no choices! Why couldn't the snowball fight have gone like that?

[x] Go along with it.

>>88141
Don't be silly.
A wall like that would have crushed us flat.

>>88136
I-is that a slopoke. . . toy?

>>88136

Put out your hands and you fall through the window,
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void.
Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape.

The spiraling shape will make you go insane.

>>88209
>The spiraling shape will make you go insane.
It's true. When GL was airing, /a/ was a goddamn nuthouse.

>>88242
>When GL was airing, /a/ was a goddamn nuthouse.
And this is different... how?

>>88242

Yeah, but it was a fun nuthouse.

>>88245
Well, now it's a tardhouse.

Updates for this coming sometime tonight. I guarantee it.

I forgot just how much I need to write for the next update, so yeah. It's inbound though.

>>88330

You could always break up the tedium with a choice or two. Still, a wall is fine too.

Also, hooray!

>>88335

Actually, I already did with the choice you just had.

And finally going to get working on the next update.

Never should have fixed Fallout 3.

>>88513

Hooray!

ffffffff

I'm going to need to delay updating yet again as I've finally hit my limit with how much shit I'm willing to put up with from my PC. Pop ups and redirects I can handle, even the occasional freeze. What I cannot put up with anymore, is being almost entirely unable to use the internet, because the browser crashes without explanation, some times endlessly, when loading nearly any page, requiring me to abandon any tabs I had and start fresh with one window, no tabs. On the same note, I absolutely refuse to deal with having to restart my computer 5 times consecutively because it freezes either in the processes or starting up, or during the process of running windows. I have literally no option but a total format, and since I have no prediction of when I can get my computer taken in and when I can get it back, I'm covering my bases by saying that this week could see no updates.

Should I get my computer back rather quickly, of course, I'll get right to my update.

>>88574
>it freezes either in the processes or starting up, or during the process of running windows
You probably need a new power supply or memory.

>>88582

Except I had to have both of those replaced already when my computer blew up. I'll keep it in mind, but if I get it looked at and they're problematic, a particular computer store near me is going to have a rather sudden case of spontaneous combustion. I already have a feeling that they initially put my computer together to burn itself out ever since I was told by a strangely temporary employee that the power source I had was no way powerful enough for my PC in the first place and that he was surprised it didn't happen sooner, I wouldn't really be surprised to find out that they did it again, which is why I'm not taking my computer to them.

>On the same note, I absolutely refuse to deal with having to restart my computer 5 times consecutively because it freezes either in the processes or starting up, or during the process of running windows.
Check your motherboard. Last time I had problems like these, one of the capacitators blew up, causing the rest of the board to go with it.

So, I need to say something. I'm already aware of my terrible work ethic when it comes to updating, and pretty much everything else in life at that so this isn't about that. Instead, I'm wondering how my readers feel about my works so far, Flight and Gensou Coil primarily, though if you have something to say about Second Project that's fine too. I admit that when it comes to writing, I couldn't explain the steps and processes to it that someone actually learned in the field could, so I couldn't even ask what specific parts of my writing could be weak or strong. Altogether though, I feel I've been on a bit of a slump. I don't know if my work is enjoyable to read, and I don't know if I've improved much since I started more than a year ago.

Truth be told, I'm writing as much for the readers as I am for myself. There's a chance I'll be attending university for creative writing this fall, and with that in mind I suddenly feel a lot worse about my writing, that it's not at an acceptable level, and that combined with the worries I have over the whole school thing have been weighing down on me. This is something I've wanted to make a profession for a long time now, because it's something I enjoy doing, and I enjoy others enjoyment of my work. Having others read something I've written and enjoy it is my main motivation, so it probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say I'm doing it for the attention after all. A self-fulfilling act that makes everyone involved happy, which is why I need to know what people think so far, my best and worst points in writing, what people think of my works.

I feel embarrassed to even be posting something like this. I feel like I'm begging people to like me.

>I admit that when it comes to writing, I couldn't explain the steps and processes to it that someone actually learned in the field could, so I couldn't even ask what specific parts of my writing could be weak or strong. Altogether though, I feel I've been on a bit of a slump. I don't know if my work is enjoyable to read, and I don't know if I've improved much since I started more than a year ago.

It's incredibly enjoyable. The protagonist being one of the most developed I've seen in a CYOA, and your characterizations are compelling such that the reader wants to fulfill the protagonists' goals if only so he'll get more words out of them (your Reimu in particular is highly enjoyable). I write the Fallout story, and I admit you're a main inspiration. And no I couldn't describe myself how I write either, and that's no shame: The proof is in the pudding.

As to whether you've improved or not, I say you've been consistent. This is not saying you've stagnated in any sense of the word, because the nature of the story has changed dramatically since then, which to remain consistent in the face of is quite a thing. You've made both winning and losing battles between the protagonist and Touhous believable, itself a feat. The real anticipation now is how well you'll be able to transition the big hero Kenshiro to the sneaky, Touhou-possessing Nobody after the events of SWR (assuming of course this is in line with the readers' sentiment).

The one thing that has never been clear to me is this character's motivation. Feels like he just decided to run away and be good for no reason.

Or maybe it was explained at some point and I forgot. (Enlightenment came sorta afterwards)

>>89215

Shush you. If we didn't like you, we wouldn't be reading your works.

Anyways, I think your writing is excellent. I can't really talk much about change in quality of writing, since I've been too busy to read the first threads, but considering how easy it was for me to pick it up halfway, I think it says a lot on your current quality, at least.

>>89217

>I write the Fallout story,

Oh, he-

>and I admit you're a main inspiration.

Wait, seriously? That's kind of awesome in it's own right.

I see what you're saying though, thank you. Good to know that I've had a fairly steady level of quality. Let's hope I maintain it now.

>>89223

The way I see it is an evolution of a survival tactic. Starting out as a possessing force, you need to blend in to avoid drawing out suspicion, which means doing what the character you're possessing would do. Naturally, you'd slowly find out about various things in their lives and work towards using them to your advantage and to improve how well you can 'play' them. Having gone through that twice and seen how happy they were as a result of having their problems solved for them is what lead to the current ideal. As for running away, well, I'd say it would be a mixture of panic and confusion over realizing that he was dead and refused to accept it despite the circumstances. Also because if you didn't run away there would be no story.

Also, if he is ever caught and returned to Higan to face judgment, having a laundry list of good deeds wouldn't hurt.

>>89232
>Also because if you didn't run away there would be no story.

As we found out firsthand. With the very first choice in the story, no less.

>>89215

I don't know about Gensoul Coil, but I can say that FotLS is one of the best stories we've had for a long time. After I started reading it, I regreted not giving any attention before the fourth thread, and I've been enjoying it since then, even during the snowball fight arc. Yur writing is good and enjoyable, and like Fallanon said, you've kept your quality over time. The only problem you have is the update schedule; the story and the writing are good as they've always been.

[x] Go along with it.

Whatever Yukari wants, even if you didn't want to take part, you're pretty sure you would end up having to deal with her at some point or another. Might as well get it out of the way now than save the hassle of possibly being interrupted later at an inopportune time. Taking your time to chew and think, you make your decision by the time you swallow.

“That works for me,” you say, scooping up another mouthful of food. Ran nods and returns to her own meal, and the rest of the dinner proceeds normally. After some after meal chatter and some light drinks around, Ran excuses herself from the table, gathering the dishes from those close to her and carries them to the sink, where Meiling has been posted on washing duty. You get up and follow along, bringing your own dishes. Once you drop off your stack and follow Ran out a doorway into the hall. “So, is Yukari here somewhere?”

“In a sense,” Ran replies, arms folded neatly in front of her, her strange way of doing it where her sleeves overlap each other. Only a few feet down the hall, Ran steps over to a door and slides it open. Inside is a room much to large to be real. “Right this way,” she says, gesturing into the door. Okay then. You step through the frame, into the very clearly western style room, a distinct departure from the eastern style of Hakugyokuro. Just inside the doorway as well, sitting on a leather chair is Yukari, looking like she's been waiting for you.

“Ah, you came after all,” Yukari starts, sitting up from her slight slouch. “Ran, thank you for bringing him, though you can go back if you wish. I only need to speak to 'Ken' here,” she continues, nodding to the tailed woman. You look behind you to see Ran stepping back out the door and, well, sliding the wall shut. Your attention comes back to Yukari now, who has taken on a much more upright posture.

“So, you wanted to talk to me?” you ask, taking a few more steps into the room. Yukari gestures to a similarly leather sofa, and you take the invitation to have a seat.

“You've been busy,” she says, linking her fingers together on her lap. “Trying to correct the ripples you've made, and carrying on a very elaborate balancing act with the fates and destinies of quite a few people.” Meiling and Flandre come to mind immediately as she says this, and by association the rest of Remilia's household. “I would say that I'm curious as to what you have up your sleeve that makes you confident that you can handle so many people's problems at once, but I would simply be playing ignorant for your sake. I already know what you have going for you. I also know all the ends that they can lead to. So, instead I find myself wondering if you're aware of where most of your roads lead you?” Great, more problems she's laying on you, and laden with her impossible amount of foreknowledge. You feel it's pointless to try to answer, since you feel all you could say would be wrong. You simply shake your head.

“Sorry, I don't have you're foresight,” you say. Yukari grins a little, then shifts her position slightly, crossing her legs at the knee.

“Most of them lead to destruction and downfall,” she says bluntly. “I can't fault you for some of the circumstances. Lust can be a fairly potent form of temporary insanity after all,” Yukari says, smiling coyly. Well, shit. “Others though, voluntarily lending yourself to situations that require your personal involvement and hinging the success of these things on your own personal abilities. While I'm sure you have only the best intentions, you've created a wave in place of the ripples.”

“I'm sorry,” you say, cutting in. “I just have to ask how you can know all these things anyway? How can you be so sure of the future?” Yukari looks surprised, then grins wider than before, leaning back in her chair. The room rapidly darkens, and everything vanishes, save for Yukari and yourself. Just as quickly, a new room of bookshelves and desks fades into view around you, and Yukari stands up, walking off into a row of books. You start to stand up as well.

“Ah ah! Don't you move, I'll be right back,” Yukari calls back, and you sit back again. A few seconds later, she returns carrying a book, which she hands to you as she takes a seat on the sofa beside you. “Take a look here.” You look between the book and Yukari. It has no title, but you already feel dread at simply holding it. You take your chances anyway, opening the cover.

To find yourself. A book about you and your life. How does this even exist?

“Quite a good story, don't you think?” she asks, taking the book from your hands. She flips through to some point roughly halfway through and hands it back. There's half a page written, the last few sentences detailing specifically your reaction to reading about your receiving the book and your reaction to seeing the same explanation. “It's part of an ongoing series. This particular story isn't finished yet, but there are others that have already reached a conclusion. Different threads of fate, cut at different times.”

“How is this even possible?” the book reads before you find the words to reply with. Yukari smiles at you, taking up the book again.

“That's enough shock for you right now,” she says, closing the book in her lap. “It all happens and exists because I make it so. All my foreknowledge and insight is because I can specifically create the knowledge I need through boolean logic. I ask myself 'Do I know the story of Kenshiro', and the answer can only be yes or no, 1 or 0. This book,” she accentuates her point by tapping the cover. “Is the 1 I created from a 0. When it comes down to it, there is no reason for me to not know or have something unless I don't actually want it, which while ensuring that I can live quite comfortably without fear by simply removing anything that threatens my way of life, also causes me a lot of concern for everyone else. That's the problem with you right now, your choices are no longer exclusive to you. You have the capacity to change a lot of lives, and it all depends on when and where you put your 1s and 0s.” Yukari pauses for a moment, you assume to give you time to think about what she's saying. You do think of the situations on hand: Remilia and the issues with her household, and the lives of those involved. The changes you've introduced to Hina and Nitori's lives with their relationship, and now with this project the kappa have started work on. Wriggle and her feminization, and could Reimu's shrine collapse somehow be linked to you?

“I think I see what you're saying,” you say, looking at the book in Yukari's lap. “A lot of people are relying on me right now, I can't afford to screw anything up, but how will I even know when I'm about to make a mistake?”

“That's simple, but that's also where I have to cut you off,” Yukari says, sliding the book off her lap and leaning towards you. “I can give you the answers, and you can fix everyone's problems and make everyone happy, and in return you'll owe me a favour I intend to cash in immediately. Of course, you can still say no. After all, even with the heads up on your situation you should know to be more aware of what you're doing and spend more time planning your moves. It all depends on how easy you want to make it on yourself,” Yukari says. “So? What's your answer?”

[] 1
[] 0

Oh hey, I updated!

In during I fail to be clever.

>>89553
Do we need her to fix *everyone's* problems? The only thing we remotely would want to ask for help with is the SDM situation. Wriggle's makeover should take care of itself after Alice makes her a dress. Alice's intelligent doll project is something we should quest for ourselves, and while we used to pursue it because we were considering taking over the doll's body, now that we've gained Yuyuko's favor it's not that high of a priority anymore. And what else is there?

>>89554

Basically, this choice depends on if you want to autopilot through all the problems without having to make choices. Explaining in specific detail could be considered spoilers though, so unless there's explicit demand for information, I'll withhold for now.

Basically, it's an autopilot for what could otherwise end up dragging on and introducing more things to have to deal with, while also conveniently letting me get to writing things I really want to write before I go mad from never having a chance to due to story circumstances so far.

>>89555
Would it be giving too much away if you told us what it was you wanted to write? Because I would have thought being involved in SWR would be an interesting storyline that we should experience ourselves. I'm still inclined to ask Yukari to fix only Flan and Remi's relationship and let us take care of the rest.

>>89556

I very much want to get some interaction with the SA cast, but the events that take place for the game are months off, so unless there's a timeskip or two it would take quite some time to get there, or an excuse to send you underground. Guess where Yukari can't go?

It wouldn't entirely remove you from participation in SWR event though. At most it could take a day.

>>89557
Guess where Yukari can't go?

Away?

I don't know this answer is a 1 or a 0, but this woman has some serious control issues. She knew our way of doing things already, and yet she chose to throw the snowball fight in order to make us look good in front of everybody, which really is what turned the ripples into waves.

>I only need to speak to 'Ken' here

[x] Tell 'Yukarin' that if she's been paying any attention to you at all, she would know that if she wanted your help with something, she could simply ask directly, rather than pulling this mystic oracle bullcrap.
[x] A favor isn't something you "cash in" for a service. You believe you can clean up your own messes, if such messes indeed exist, but that doesn't in any way preclude you from listening to Yukari's advice.

Kenshiro needs to be moralfagging it up in here, not having been given the time to defend himself in earlier conversations with her.

[X]1

Interessig book. Now we need to keep an eye for everything that has 23 in it. Except her would probably be 9.
>>89561

That's a 0.

[X]1

For Yukari, existence itself is like computer code.
Computer code she is well versed in, and in a way is a programmer of existance.

[X] 0

The things worth doing are worth doing yourself.

[X] 0

[X]1

Want to see how this will work.

[X]1

Willing to throw EZMode a bone here.

[X]1

Is it too much to ask that we at least get a fight scene with Tenko?

[x] 1

Now that I think about it, most of everything left that needs to be gotten out of the way before SWR would have taken care of itself anyway, except possibly whether Sakuya would defect to Flan's side.

Alright, I might as well come out with this now, instead of waiting for autopilot to take the win that I sort of suspect it will.

EZ, what are you trying to do with this story? Because I can't tell.

When we started out, we had a pretty clear goal: evade death. Simple. Ken's ability to possess people would be a tool toward that. When we saw how messed up some of their lives were, we decided to help them out; maybe we could resolve their problems, and becoming a celestial was a nice theoretical end.

So now we have a stronger purpose: avoid death, help people. Still simple, but nice and firm. We continue with that goal in mind, helping out Alice, then Hina. Things are going good, we're moving at a nice clip, and we have some accomplishments under our belt.

Then we got to Hakugyokuro.

Yuyuko gives Ken a way to manifest, well... alright. Kind of takes away from the possession aspect of the story, but okay, we can use this, I guess. We move on in sort of the same fashion as before, inform Youmu of our meeting with Youki, play with Yuyuko a bit, everything seems to be going reasonably.

Then we hit the snowball fight.

I'm going to be honest: I dropped out of this story for the majority of that sequence, so maybe I'm missing some information that everyone else has. Still, I just couldn't bring myself to slog through all that mess, and it was of no interest to me. I waited patiently for that to come to an end, began reading again when it did, and tried to glean the important bits of information that cropped up during my absence.

Alright, so now we're heading out to help out Wriggle. That's a nice goal, fits into our goal of helping everyone, and then... okay, SWR is starting up. I guess we can get involved. We do.

So fight scenes. Yeah. Alright. I can understand that some people are really enthusiastic about these. I'm not excited about them myself, but if the other readers want them, I'll stomach them. Fortunately they're not as long as the snowball fight, so I can still follow along, even if I participate less.

So we go through a few fights, come back to Hakugyokuro, arrange a date with Yuyuko, and meet Yukari. And this is where you propose the autopilot.

The autopilot would solve everybody's personal issues for us, and make everyone happy. Um. I thought that was the main goal of the story? The thing we were all supposed to work toward. So, if all of that is swept under the carpet, we're supposed to work toward... what? A better reputation? Weren't we only aiming for that to, you know, help us solve people's problems? You say not to worry, we can still fool around with SWR, but... is that our new goal? Are we just going to solve the incidents that were resolved in the games? Are we going to pursue that Yuyuko route that people seem interested? What are we doing? Why are we doing it?

Now, you say you want to autopilot to introduce some interaction with the underground crew, but... what are we supposed to do with them? Solve their problems? We already glossed over everyone else's, so why are we bothering with theirs? Are we going to solve the incident from SA? Okay, I guess, but why? If all we're doing is fastforwarding in order to meet the SA crew, why not just make another SA story, because that's what this seems about ready to turn into.

I'm on the verge of just dropping this story altogether, mostly because it's strayed quite far away from what it originally was already, but I've been plugging along with the hope that we get back to it one way or another. Now this single vote is basically shooting that to pieces, too. I can't speak for everyone, and if this is what the other readers want, so be it, I have one less story to follow. Still, given that my interest in this story is about to die, I just want to have some explanation of why. What are you trying to do here? What's the goal of the story now? What has this turned into?

The autopilot will only affect the problems on hand that have a chance of ending poorly and causing problems. I wrote this update while tired and guess I didn't word it correctly. It doesn't fix everyone's problems forever, you still have the rest of Yuyuko/Youmu route to do, SWR (which is entirely voluntary), Wriggles issue (which is about wrapped up on it's own anyway). You see, from my perspective I see a lot of knots, right now you have Yuyuko, Youmu, Mokou, all of SDM, Wriggle and Alice all on hand waiting for you to help them out, which leads to a very cluttered daily schedule mixed with playing with others, where you probably couldn't dedicate the amount of time to solving a problem you could if you only helped one person at a time. This also causes route focus to slow down, helping everyone else, but there hasn't been a lot of attention paid to Yuyuko and Youmu despite being in their care. Yuyuko's date is something I planned solely to force some time with Yuyuko in order to contribute to her route, which I find ridiculous I had to do. With, I'll be able to get on with the Hakugyokuro route without big distractions, which will get us all to one particular point at the end, where the decision will be made by vote whether to return to possessing people or to retain your form. What I'm planning here is a way to speed things up, because at this rate I feel like this could drag on for a lot longer than it should. Last thing I want right now is to end up with something else that drags on like Namek.

Going underground has been a goal ever since you got to Hakugyokuro, that's the problem Yukari had. You won't be fixing anything or solving anything for anyone, it's basically just a scouting mission to give a status report on conditions. There would still be hints of issues to be solved, but those will be for when they become an official part of the world post SA events, nothing to become involved in right now.

>>89578

I see. Well, thanks for the response at least. I'll try to stick it out a little while longer, though to be honest I've felt like this has been going downhill since Ken got a body and a name at all. At this point I'm not really sure the story could recapture the feeling it had before.

At least you still write Gensou Coil.

>where the decision will be made by vote whether to return to possessing people or to retain your form.

Do fucking want. I'm tired of calling Nobody as Kenshiro.

And now kenshiro's motivation seems even more throwaway. This seems even worse than retcon.

>It doesn't fix everyone's problems forever, you still have the rest of Yuyuko/Youmu route to do, SWR (which is entirely voluntary), Wriggles issue (which is about wrapped up on it's own anyway). You see, from my perspective I see a lot of knots, right now you have Yuyuko, Youmu, Mokou, all of SDM, Wriggle and Alice all on hand waiting for you to help them out, which leads to a very cluttered daily schedule mixed with playing with others, where you probably couldn't dedicate the amount of time to solving a problem you could if you only helped one person at a time.

Well, that was the point of this whole exercise, right? To expand the character's worldview and take things in a broader perspective. Naturally, you're going to disappoint those who want a more personal investment, but that's an experience he has to go through himself.

>This also causes route focus to slow down, helping everyone else, but there hasn't been a lot of attention paid to Yuyuko and Youmu despite being in their care. Yuyuko's date is something I planned solely to force some time with Yuyuko in order to contribute to her route, which I find ridiculous I had to do.

I never thought we were really ever focusing on a Yuyuko route, rather seeing it as accessory to Youmu. Youmu gets involved in SWR in a very personal manner when she fights against Tenshi, so I thought the focus would jump to her there. Not that I can't understand the attraction, but following the romance thing with Yuyuko fully would seem to be of counterproductive to the real lesson we have to teach her, which is that she can reach enlightenment too if she strives for it, but through action rather than reincarnation, leading by example.

>With, I'll be able to get on with the Hakugyokuro route without big distractions, which will get us all to one particular point at the end, where the decision will be made by vote whether to return to possessing people or to retain your form. What I'm planning here is a way to speed things up, because at this rate I feel like this could drag on for a lot longer than it should. Last thing I want right now is to end up with something else that drags on like Namek.

The story isn't dragging at all, though. The little bits with Suwako and Reimu and Mokou and Flan were great. In fact it feels rushed in places, like the autopilot chumping of Remilia, Reimu's warning apparently vacuous. I've been hoping the SWR event would give Kenshiro the opportunity to 'die' in glorious battle against Tenshi, who is pretty much the antithesis of an enlightened being herself, ending his public life, and returning us to the original methods. Was this an erroneous assumption?

>>89587

I thought I had something to say, but then I realized I'm an idiot that can't read.

Also:

>In during I fail to be clever.

Self-fulfilling prophecy. I think I should just say fuck it and discard the idea. This is what I get for writing tired, I write stupid things that everyone gets annoyed with.

[x] 1

Yukari, as has been established in canon, cares for Gensoukyo as a whole. She is doing this to help prevent something tragic from occurring. It's a fair deal, I'd say - after all, what's more important, our pride, or helping to bring a family back together?

Of course, it probably helps that I only came along on the tail end of the snowball fight.

Actually EZ, I should probably add that I find this a little unbelievable as a device for a timeskip. It was previously established that Yukari was perfectly fine with the status quo that existed before Ken's intervention, and in fact she actually made it pretty clear that she considered stability better than making potentially harmful waves, hence the whole threatening Ken thing earlier. For her to suddenly reverse her position and do things his way is a little odd, especially since if she were capable of resolving everything and making everyone happy, why the hell didn't she just do so from the start? Would have saved everyone a lot of trouble if she had, and probably would have made less work for her in the long run.

This whole thing makes it look like you're treating her as a plot device instead of as a genuine character.

>>89598
But was that REALLY her position, or merely one she wanted you to think she was taking, knowing full well the effect it would have? Do you really think someone with the mental capacity to process all the effects one person's actions are having on everyone else wouldn't have at least some notion of what effect SHE has on others, and how to use that knowledge to get them to do whatever it is she wants them to do?

It's not even that much more complicated than basic psychology. For some people, the most sure way to get them to do something is to tell them NOT to do it.

You see, this shit really gets on my nerves, not having any real way to directly interact with the interested parties reading my story. Sure, there's IRC, but there's maybe 2-3 people on there that I know read my story, but other then that I have no way of talking to the other readers to hear what they have to say and think other than to leave a message and hope I get replies. I've been trying to 'troubleshoot' this mess I've gotten into here on IRC, but the solution I came up with wasn't taken as well as I thought it would and that just bugs me more. Last thing I want is to try to retract a bad idea with another bad idea that just makes things worse, so fuck, here's the deal.

I'm scrapping the autopilot idea. It's bad and I feel bad. You have a choice of either:
1) Get bad ended by Yukari for failing her trust.
2) Yukari laughs, and then chews you out, and you leave with a little less pride than before.
3) I retcon and rewrite the entire choice into the abyss where it never existed.

>>89610
3).

The main reason we voted for autopilot was because of how anxious you were to get into the SA storyline.

[x] 3

[X] 3

Three it is, then.

>>89614

Then in the future please disregard me and my stupidly selfish choices because I am incapable of thinking correctly. I'll get over it. If I don't, well, I'll find some other way to shoehorn what I want into the story, like getting lost trying to find Higan and ending up in Satori's kitchen.

In the future, please waste no time in pointing out that I may be on a self-destructive course of idiocy.

[X] 2

As mentioned in the IRC, I'm all for this one. Though I still wouldn't mind Yukari asking us to check out the underground.

[X] 3

[X] 1

Wimping out to go for the quick-and-easy fix after all that time spent building yourself up? Take your medicine like a man.

[X] 3

[X] 3

[X] 3

I don't like this Yukari who can see into the future.

[x]1

There are no other options.

I'm sort of incredibly curious about the bad end.

[x] 1)

>1) Get bad ended by Yukari for failing her trust.

This would be for breaking our promise? The only thing he really promised her is that he wouldn't hurt Yuyuko, though.

Can't you work it so that you can keep the scene without retconning and without a time skip? She hasn't told us directly what it was she wanted us to do yet, or when she needs us to to do it. This could all be just a reminder that she'll be continuing to watch us very carefully.

There's also the possibility of a compromise: Where he agrees to fulfill Yukari's task, at a later time, but ask that she not intervene in the messes he himself has created. We've seen a bilateral non-interference pact come out of a unilateral confrontation with Reimu when he brought up Alice's past against her, why couldn't it work similarly for Yukari here, by calling her out on all these problems she has so much knowledge of and has done nothing about? If she foresaw them, why didn't she prevent them from happening? These are the kinds of objections I would raise were I in Kenshiro's place.

>>89668
you mean option 2?

>>89670

Possibly. If she were that unreasonable, then I'd end up feeling very embarrassed for her indeed.

EZMode instead of obsessing over this retcon business, why not write the Hina H-scene? The seemingly serial nature of these encounters, while the friend who lends him this body daydreams over him, ignored and alone in her library, does well to put Yukari's adverse and overbearing attitude into context.

>>89721

Eh, maybe. I have some issues to work with when it comes to writing an H scene. The two I got out were a struggle, and I have the same struggle with the current one. It'll happen eventually, but this isn't something I can force.

[x] Go along with it.

Whatever Yukari wants, even if you didn't want to take part, you're pretty sure you would end up having to deal with her at some point or another. Might as well get it out of the way now than save the hassle of possibly being interrupted later at an inopportune time. Taking your time to chew and think, you make your decision by the time you swallow.

“That works for me,” you say, scooping up another mouthful of food. Ran nods and returns to her own meal, and the rest of the dinner proceeds normally. After some after meal chatter and some light drinks around, Ran excuses herself from the table, gathering the dishes from those close to her and carries them to the sink, where Meiling has been posted on washing duty. You get up and follow along, bringing your own dishes. Once you drop off your stack and follow Ran out a doorway into the hall. “So, is Yukari here somewhere?”

“In a sense,” Ran replies, arms folded neatly in front of her, her strange way of doing it where her sleeves overlap each other. Only a few feet down the hall, Ran steps over to a door and slides it open. Inside is a room much to large to be real. “Right this way,” she says, gesturing into the door. Okay then. You step through the frame, into the very clearly western style room, a distinct departure from the eastern style of Hakugyokuro. Just inside the doorway as well, sitting on a leather chair is Yukari, looking like she's been waiting for you.

“Ah, you came after all,” Yukari starts, sitting up from her slight slouch. “Ran, thank you for bringing him, though you can go back if you wish. I only need to speak to 'Ken' here,” she continues, nodding to the tailed woman. You look behind you to see Ran stepping back out the door and, well, sliding the wall shut. Your attention comes back to Yukari now, who has taken on a much more upright posture.

“So, you wanted to talk to me?” you ask, taking a few more steps into the room. Yukari gestures to a similarly leather sofa, and you take the invitation to have a seat.

“I do,” she says, gesturing to the nearby couch. “Please have a seat.” She nods to you as she speaks. Might as well, at least. You wouldn't be surprised if she made you sit anyway even if you didn't. The couch is leather as well, seems to be part of a set with Yukari's chair. Once you're seated, Yukari produces a fan from nowhere. “I can't help but notice how active you've been lately,” she says, tapping the fan against her palm. “You seem to have a lot of confidence in yourself as well.” She pauses, though you're not sure why. Is she expecting a response? “Just as well I would imagine. I don't think someone could hope to achieve what you seem dead set on doing alone without being absolutely sure of themselves.”

“What are you getting at?” you ask, hoping you can get her to stop beating around the bush and get to the point. You don't mind having to talk with her, but the way she tries to seem so omnipresent and condescending is pretty annoying. Yukari smiles at your question.

“Right to the point then?” she asks, with a sigh. She opens the fan and begins to wave it slightly. “I simply wish to remind you of your situation. You're living in the care of a dear friend, and trying to single handedly change the lives of almost everyone you meet. You've gotten yourself quite deep, which is why this is why you need to be at your best. You're trying to calm the ripples, but your actions only make more. I believe you have what it takes to resolve everything you've taken upon you, even if you're only the catalyst for recovery. However, you also are at quite a risk of failure. Several ripples threaten to overturn the boat if not checked, and they've been building momentum for quite some time now. I can't help but wonder if you even realize some of the problems you've caused. However...” Yukari grins at you. “I would like to say that it's quite good that you are still a healthy young man despite circumstances, as a few could testify,” she pauses. It was a stretch to hope that she didn't know, but with how closely she seems to be able to keep an eye on your actions, you're more surprised it took this long to come up. “I'd hope that you put as much effort into pleasing Yuyuko as you do others. Though, I'm sure you're aware of the problem it's caused and what your potential answers might be.”

“Yeah, honestly, I don't even know where to begin there,” you claim. Alice's issue definitely is unique. In fact, the only place you could think to go for a solution is, well... You look at Yukari. She seems to have the same train of thought.

“That's why I have a proposition for you,” she says. “Like I've told you before, I have a particular issue of my own I want to have handled. An easy mission that won't cause any more disturbances, to be handled at your leisure. I want you to handle it, and in exchange, I'll give you a little something to help out the struggling lovers. Consider it a trade, your services for mine.” At the end, she closes her fan with a quick snap against the butt of her hand, creating a loud clack. A trade she says, and while it seems simple, you can't help but wonder if there's something more to it. Truth be told though, Yukari is one person that you're sure could get you the help you need to solve this problem. It's all a matter of trust it seems, whether or not this is some kind of trick.

---

Yeah, it's a rewrite of the same post leading in a different direction. Didn't want to scrap the entire post.

Well that was painless.

[x] "I'd probably agree to help you out even if you didn't offer anything in return; it would be rather hypocritical of me otherwise. Not that I wouldn't appreciate your help with the Alice issue."
[x] "I can't promise to make it a priority, since as you've said there's still much to do before 'Kenshiro' can leave the set, returning the investment of the person who gave me this name and body not among the least of them. Something which hopefully will be done in a manner more, um... transformative than that which has characterized certain recent encounters with previously possessed persons."
[x] "So tell me what you want done, because I'm frankly curious, in addition to the fact that we're burning daylight. Or lamplight. Whichever."

No rest for the wicked.

[x]"You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[x]Ask her what she needs done.

[x]"You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[x]Ask her what she needs done.

^ Much better

[x]"You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[x]Ask her what she needs done.

[x]"You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[x]Ask her what she needs done.

[z] "You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[e] Ask her what she needs done.

>>89725
I like the daylight/lamplight thing, though.

[x]"You've already helped me once. Besides it's what I do."
[x]Ask her what she needs done.

You decide that this seems too simple to be some kind of trick.

“You've helped me once already,” you say, sitting up slightly. “I don't see why I can't help you out. I would have gotten to it eventually anyway. It's just what I do.” Yukari grins and raises her hand. A small hole opens in the air above her hand, and a thin, long box drops out into her hand.

“Very well then, consider this an advance thank you for your help,” she says, offering the box to you. You take the box, and find it to be slightly heavier than you'd expected. You're then left with the awkward realization that you don't have any pockets large enough to hide this entirely, something which seems to amuse Yukari. That aside, you find yourself curious about the task she wants help with.

“So your problem, what do I need to do?” you ask.

“There's a community of youkai that live underground, beneath Gensokyo, in the remnants of abandoned sections of old Hell. It's something of a prison colony, where youkai with detestable powers are banished, never to set food above ground. Likewise however, surface youkai can't set foot down there as part of an agreement. Only humans and human souls are allowed to come and go freely, and while a ghost like you would be considered a youkai, you're still freshly dead enough to count as human for this. I just want you to travel down there and take note of the conditions, ensure that everything is still at peace.”

“That seems pretty simple,” you say, trying to imagine what an underground colony of youkai looks like. You're imagining some kind of shanty town. After all, where would they even get materials to build with? “I'm surprised that you can't do something like that yourself, actually.” Yukari chuckles in response.

“You would be surprised how many things I actually cannot do. Despite it's simplicity though, this is an important task. Being the remnant of Hell, there are malicious spirits among the youkai, and the main point of this exercise is to ensure there's not a rebellion boiling that could threaten the surface. I must emphasize that the youkai of the underground are there mostly because of their powers or personalities. Aggressive, poisonous types that would only trouble others around them,” Yukari explains, sounding rather serious.

“How do I get down there? I don't have to dig on my own do I?” you joke. Yukari shakes her head.

“There is an old well far to the west of the human village, near a few abandoned houses. The forest has been growing over the area, but the well is intact. It serves as a secret entrance to the underground. Doing down the well, you should come out just above their city,” she says. As she does, you realize you can see the area clearly in your head. You don't doubt for a second that Yukari planted this information, but it's for the better at least, you won't get lost when you have to look for this place.

“So is that all?” you ask, tucking the box into your pocket. Yukari mocks a pained expression.

“Aw, you don't enjoy your time chatting with me?” she whines, tilting her head to the side. “Am I not your type?” You smirk a bit, and prepare to respond, but before you do, the scene changes and you find yourself sitting in an empty room. It takes a few seconds to realize it's the room you had been using at Hakugyokuro. Well, seems that is all. It's not entirely time to relax just yet though, looking down at the box in your pocket. You don't exactly want to get caught with something like this on you. You make your way from the room and out into the hall, intent on setting out to hand this off as soon as possible. While you do see Youmu in the hallways, thankfully she's walking away from you and doesn't notice your presence. Once clear of the building, you set out for the gate.

**

Some time later, you drop down towards Alice's house. You can see lights on inside, which is a good thing. You'd hate to have to wake someone up for this. You lower down to the door, but don't set down, and knock. A few seconds later, Alice cracks the door open.

“Oh, what brings you out here so late?” she asks, closing the door again and reopening it, minus one lock chain.

“I've got something for you, should solve that problem of yours,” you say, slipping the box from your pocket. You feel a little odd handing off something like this to a girl, but you're the one that got into this situation anyway. Alice takes it from you and looks it over.

“What is this?” she asks, looking for some kind of way to open it. Ah man.

“It's, uh...” you stumble for words. It could only be one thing, so... Alice finds a flap and flips it open. Oh man, she's taking it out.

“A bottle?” she looks up at you, bottle in hand. Yep, you're completely lost for an explanation. Definitely not what you had in mind, damn it Yukari.

“Yeah, a bottle. That should help your problems!” you boldly claim, still having no idea what it is even supposed to be a bottle of. No markings, though the bottle is a light pink. Alice removes the stopper and has a quick sniff, then brings her head back.

“What is this stuff?” she asks, blinking and replacing the stopper. You try to think of some kind explanation, though you notice that Alice looks a little distracted, and she's starting to get a little red. “Actually, you know what? I think I know,” she says, looking up at you with a smile. “In fact, I think you should have a smell too.”

“I'll pass,” you say warily. You have an idea of what that bottle causes, at least.

“Are you sure? You could have a lot of fun...” Alice continues as her state deepens. This is when you back away. True, it would probably be amazing, but you're sure it would only lead to more problems, not to mention that Yukari seems to be keeping an eye on everything you do. With that in mind, the very idea suddenly feels very uncomfortable.

“I can't. You enjoy yourself now,” you say, floating farther from the door. Alice looks a little disappointed, but still quite eager. She waves you off and closes the door. You can only hope Patchouli is still in good health, she's going to need it.

**

You return to Hakugyokuro. The place is quiet, everyone seems to have settled down for the night now as well. You head into the building. Once again, there's no one in the halls. Considering how many people are actually on hand here as well, you find it fairly interesting, with all the noise that's been around the last few days, the silence is both welcome and unusual. Still, it's not such a troubling change, especially considering your intent to relax. On the thought of relaxing, you're still undecided on how you're going to. The library is a good choice, as well as the gardens. Of course, lying in your bed is a good option as well.

---

Updating twice rather quickly? I must be sick.

[x] Of course, lying in your bed is a good option as well.
[x] Think of what you've accomplished so far, and what you've yet to do.

In sore need of a recap.

>>89740
I was expecting Mima to pop out of that bottle.

oho

[x] Of course, lying in your bed is a good option as well.
[x] Think of what you've accomplished so far, and what you've yet to do.

Aren't we in the middle of some insane plan to mindfuck Remi? We should probably get on top of that.

[x] Of course, lying in your bed is a good option as well.
[x] Think of what you've accomplished so far, and what you've yet to do.

Recap would be good.

>>89757

I think the idea is to make her appreciate what she has by taking it all away from her. By appearing to regard the issue as incidental and investing as little of our time in it as possible, we appear like those who came before us (Reimu and almost certainly Yukari), less an enemy to maneuver against, more of a force of nature that she must simply endure. The obsessive 'archnemesis' mentality is likely what prevents her from realizing how small she really is, and how much she must depend on others if she is to live the comfortable lifestyle she wishes to.

It's therapeutic. Really.

Before that happens, though, she's likely to become apoplectically angry. That would also be a convenient time to step out of the limelight.

[x] Of course, lying in your bed is a good option as well.
[x] Think of what you've accomplished so far, and what you've yet to do.

You're going to just kick back and relax in your bed. You need some time to think as well, whether it's just to sort out your thoughts or to consider everything that's happened. You make your way to your room. The door is still slightly open from you left. You enter and make your way to the bed, sliding under the covers. Feels good to lie down, even if you technically don't really need to rest. The whole being dead thing still fairly new to you. It's only been about a week since your death, but how much has happened since?

You find yourself in a boat, manned by the lone Komachi, your personal escort across the river you only now know is named Sanzu. Discovering your circumstances, you make a run for it, out of desperation? Confusion? It might have been a mistake in the end, to run away from what should have been your fate, but you can't discount the things you've done. Finding yourself in Cirno's shoes, despite your brief stay. You have to remember to apologize to Cirno sometime for that, Aya too. Neither of them likely know the truth behind it, and you suspect Cirno had it worst, waking up after being blasted through a wall with who knows how much memory of the events leading to it. After that it was Alice you found yourself in control of next, and your first time really stopping to realize your position and what you needed to do to stay hidden, especially with Komachi on your heels over your escape. It also served as your introduction to the world around you, and the more powerful rules behind it in the form of magic. All the studying you had done, despite your relatively short time with it, it's stuck, though how much use you could have for various trap triggers and slight elemental effects is unknown, you haven't put much effort into the practice since you were forcefully ejected from Alice by Reimu. Maybe you should take some time to practice magic some time. It definitely wouldn't hurt.

Following that was Hina, an unfortunate Goddess. That was an interesting time, which enlightened you to the fact that given enough time your own desires fall in line with your host. It turned out just as well for the two of you, of course, hinging on Nitori. The compulsion towards her was fueled by Hina's secret desires she was too afraid to act on, and powered by your own hormonal drive, you did a rather good job on overcoming that boundary, much to the pleasure of all involved, a pleasure that later mirrored itself not to long ago. You also had a brush with Reimu then too, which ultimately lead to a begrudged acceptance, which now has grown to something like friendship. That was perhaps the most important change made. Well, perhaps aside from current circumstances. Waking up in Hakugyokuro next, in control of Youmu, only to have yourself purged within minutes. After a close call with the edge of a sword over some poorly chosen words, you found yourself given form, and that's been your world for the last few days now. You've met a great number of people since then, all over a short span of time, hinged entirely on an all inclusive snowball fight, that ended with Yukari throwing the game in your favour. Things have only gotten hectic since then, with your own body you've started helping so many people at once, you're not at a point where quite a few people are depending on you to change their lives. At least one problem is settled now, though that leaves still more to deal with. Remilia and those close to her are top priority at the moment, due to the potential for disaster that could come of depriving Flandre of a stable source of food for too long, a full out tantrum thankfully avoided due to Mokou's sacrifice. Ah yeah, there's her too and whatever you owe her for literally giving her life to help you after being pretty much forced into the situation. Once Flandre and Remilia are reunited and the entire mansion gets back together, you can fulfill your promise to Tokiko.

Aside from that, there's Wriggle's problem, Reimu's shrine collapse, the one remaining task Alice needs help with, and most recently Yukari's request of you. Only Reimu's shrine really is a pressing issue out of these ones, the other two mostly being manageable at your leisure. All you really have to go on though is the fact that Suwako knows something. Whatever it is you might need to discover on your own. Speaking of Suwako, being told that you're descended from a God really threw you for a loop. Sure, it's a somewhat common thing that most people don't know, but you still find it incredible.

There's more, you think. You remember Marisa saying something about a ruined house in the mountains near Reimu's shrine. You feel like that's not all though, there's something you've forgotten since, and while the memories are just out of reach, you don't know what to do to recall them. A few more thoughts cross your mind, but ultimately fade away as you drift off to sleep.

---

No vote this time, I have some more to write as a follow up. Figured I'd get this out now in order to try to further cement myself in a regular update schedule of at least one post per day, votes permitting. Whatever funk I've been in hit it's peak with that retcon business and I want to get back to writing. I have a story to tell and I'll be damned if I'm not going to tell it.

Incidentally, there were things I remembered that I was going to write for this, but I forgot them before I got them down and couldn't remember them as well.

>No vote this time, I have some more to write as a follow up. Figured I'd get this out now in order to try to further cement myself in a regular update schedule of at least one post per day, votes permitting. Whatever funk I've been in hit it's peak with that retcon business and I want to get back to writing. I have a story to tell and I'll be damned if I'm not going to tell it.

Hooray!

>There's more, you think. You remember Marisa saying something about a ruined house in the mountains near Reimu's shrine. You feel like that's not all though, there's something you've forgotten since, and while the memories are just out of reach, you don't know what to do to recall them.

I believe the Prismrivers had originally told us about a certain runaway ghost. Marisa is in desperate need of some Mima.

Though it will be quite a ways from now, Yuka was practically begging to be the next possession target.

There is of course the issue of Youmu's letter. That's when we can breech the topic of her father without her flying off the handle. And that will require much training. I'm wondering though if we'll really be able to break through just by that. Helping her through SWR, which sees her face off against an 'enlightened being' may result in the transformative change that she needs if she is to confront her father, who himself abandoned her to search for 'enlightenment'.

The next step in the Shrine issue is rather simple. We train our sword fighting, but more importantly alert Suika of Suwako's open challenge. Given her competitiveness over finding the culprit she should be eager to take up the task.

Since Suwako said that the only real trait we had that could overcome her was our swordsmanship, she should be critically weak to Suika's in-your-face frank brawling style, as opposed our Felix the Cat bag of tricks. Furthermore, from an allegorical standpoint, the Achilles heel of a human goddess of warfare should be an oni, who in legend were unmatched by humans in open combat, such that humans invariably had to resort to trickery to defeat them. Suwako's also an earth goddess, but remember who has stronger ties to the soil? The oni used to reside primarily on Youkai Mountain even before the tengu did, and Suika isn't just another oni, she's one of the Four Devas of the Mountain. 'Deva' itself implies that she be quasi-divine in nature, which is realized in her eventual ascent into Heavens in SWR.

Update won't be done today. It's half done, but I spent the majority of the time when I wasn't writing feeling dizzy and disoriented. I'm going to be updating Gensou Coil as normal, votes allowing, but this won't be updated until tomorrow at earliest, Saturday by absolute latest if I keep feeling like this.

>>90120
>Update won't be done today. It's half done, but I spent the majority of the time when I wasn't writing feeling dizzy and disoriented.

I find that's actually the best time to be writing.

Given, I feel like that most of the time.

>>90130

I make quite a lot of typos in that state, and from time to time it also causes my word order to suffer.

So it turns out that I'm finally going to be getting my computer formatted this weekend instead, so I'll be backing up and saving important things and getting that over with.

I might still update from another computer in the meantime though. Depends on if I can get some time with it.

>>90201

Hooray!

“Wake up,” you hear a voice calling you, and a gentle shaking stirs your attention. Your eyes open slowly, and the first thing you see is Yuyuko's face beaming down at you. “Breakfast is almost ready,” she says, standing up. Your brain is still a little addled from sleep, all you can manage is a grunt in reply, but Yuyuko seems to accept that and skips out of your room. You kick your legs over the edge of your bed and sit up. As you stretch, your first organized thought is how strange it is that life doesn't seem too different for a ghost compared to being alive. Sure, there's apparently no need for bathrooms, and sleep and rest are theoretically unneeded, but if that's the case why do you still feel so out of it first thing after waking up? Whatever the cause, you're not sure. All you know is that breakfast sounds like a good idea.

Leaving your room a few minutes after waking up to straighten out your appearance, you head to the kitchen, where Yuyuko is already waiting and Youmu prepares breakfast, with the table set for three. Seeing this room so empty almost makes you forget just how many people are in the building. It must still be early, or maybe they're busy with other things. Yuyuko, of course, only has one thing on her mind.

“Come on and sit down! We're having pancakes today,” Yuyuko says with a smile. That sounds good.

“Ah, that's a bit surprising,” you say. “I haven't had pancakes in a long time. I didn't realize you could make them here.” Yuyuko gives you a triumphant smile.

“Why, I'm the number one connoisseur of fine foods in Hakugyokuro!” Yuyuko proudly states, then sticks out her tongue. “Even if I have to get Yukari to get me the mix.”

“Ever had chocolate chip pancakes?” you ask. They'd always been your favourite way of making them. Yuyuko, of course, looks completely astonished.

“Chocolate... in pancakes...” she murmurs, blinking a few times. She brightens up quickly. “Youmu! Do we have any chocolate?” Youmu sighs, carrying over a plate stacked with pancakes and a large bowl.

“Unfortunately no,” she says, placing the dishes on the table. Aside from the stack of cakes, the bowl contains various fresh fruits, no doubt to use on the pancakes themselves. Yuyuko looks a little upset, but after snatching up a slice of strawberry she goes right back to her happy self and starts preparing her plate. You start as well, as does Youmu. It's a pretty even division in the end, and the meal goes down quickly. Yuyuko is finished first of course, and leans forward over the table. You notice Youmu seems to tense up a little, and is suddenly much more interested in her own breakfast. You're about to wonder what's going on when Youmu strikes out, spearing a half of strawberry sitting on the edge of her plate.

“You're too fast,” Yuyuko pouts, leaning back. Youmu huffs through her nose.

“If you want some more strawberries, Lady Yuyuko, I can just prepare you some more,” she says, loosening up a little. As soon as she does, however, several strawberries float off her plate at once, gaining a surprised cry as she attempts to catch as many as she can before they escape her. Yuyuko claims the liberated fruit, and happily pops them into her mouth.

“Mmm, but Youmu's strawberries are the sweetest,” she says, floating away from the table. Youmu just sighs and returns to her meal. You finish up your own, and begin clearing the left behind dishes. Youmu groans at you with a mouthful of food, but you ignore her and keep cleaning up, carrying the loose dishes over to the sink and setting them aside.

“You didn't have to do that you know,” Youmu says after swallowing. You simply float by and shrug.

“I felt like doing it though,” you say.

“Let's go, Kenshiro,” Yuyuko says, drifting out the door. You follow after her on foot, and find her bobbing around outside.

“It feels like it would be a nice morning,” Yuyuko says, looking up at the sky. The netherworld sky had always been somewhat muted, but this remaining red cloud cover makes it look entirely surreal, a glowing red roof. Something about it still nags at you, but you're not sure what. Yuyuko tugs at your sleeve, and you look back down from the sky. She begins to float in the direction of the stairs out.

“Ah, we're leaving?” you ask, even though it's a rhetorical question.

“Well, there's not a whole lot to do here in a day, unless you like to eat, drink and read,” she says with a wink. “I think it'd be good to go outside and play as well.” You can't quite argue with that. Besides, you'd like to get away from the snow as well.

“Let's go then,” you say, passing Yuyuko. “At least if we're going to eat and drink, we can do it somewhere else for a change.”

“I agree!” Yuyuko replies excitedly. The two of you leave together. The flight down the stairs is made quickly, and the two of you pass the gate into Gensokyo proper. There's little normal cloud cover today, so you can see almost all of Gensokyo right from the outside of the gate. You can see some abnormal clouds in the distance though, gathered in various areas, as well as a thick fog covering over the human village. It's a really strange sight, and only serves to remind you of the entire weather problems.

“Looks like the weather is still messed up,” you say, drifting forward a little. Yuyuko floats past you, descending slightly.

“Don't worry about it, it'll be worked out eventually,” she says, turning around towards you. You float after her a bit.

“So, what's our first stop?” you ask. Yuyuko just turns away and begins to fly alongside you as you catch up.

“I don't know, I thought we could just fly around until we found something interesting,” Yuyuko says happily. Well, you guess it wouldn't be too bad. Though, you're struck with an idea when you look at the fog covering the human village again.

“Say, Yuyuko?” you alert her. She replies with a questioning hum. “Seeing all that fog gives me an idea.” You look at Yuyuko to see if she's following you. At first she doesn't seem to understand what you might be getting at, but slowly a smile creeps over her face.

“That's just wicked!” she states. “But perfect!”

“Ghosts haunting the fog,” you say with a grin. Yuyuko goes back to looking confused. “Something wrong?”

“Oh, is that what you meant?” Yuyuko asks, smiling again. “I thought you meant to steal food.” Now it's your turn to look confused, though you brush it off with an incredulous laugh. Girl loves her food. “I think I like your idea better though.”

“Then let's get moving!” At that, the two of you speed up, moving in towards the human village. As you get close, you both fade away and pass into the fog. It's really heavy, and visibility is quite limited, which makes you feel all the more excited for this. You stick close to Yuyuko as the two of you float along through the fog. Seems a lot of people are staying inside rather than walk around in this weather. Not that you can really blame them, it's also still early morning, but it makes your plan a little harder to do. That is until a target presents itself in the form of Keine. She's walking alone, carrying a box of some sort. Yuyuko makes the first move, flying around behind Keine. You don't see what Yuyuko does, but Keine suddenly stops and turns quickly, looking behind her. She looks around the area, but of course she can't see either of you. You decide to get in on the action now too, and float towards Keine. Just as she seems to give up on her search, you close in next to her and whisper her name. She visibly jumps this time, swinging an arm through you.

“Who's there?” she asks quietly, looking around. “Come on out, stop hiding.” Yuyuko laughs slightly, which manifests itself as echoes down the street, which seems to unnerve Keine more. Yuyuko moves past Keine, and she must have done whatever she did the first time again, because Keine snaps around and launches a quick burst of light that collides harmlessly with a wall. Keine doesn't waste any more time standing around, instead she starts walking again, quicker than she had been before. Just as you're planning on what you'll do next, you notice that the fog is getting even thicker, and Keine slows down again as a result. Is Yuyuko doing this? You try looking for her, but you can't see her any more. You do see a shape moving in the fog ahead of Keine, a vaguely human form that seems to be waving. Keine fires off another shot, and it disperses the fog as it passes, destroying the figure, but another appears. And another, and another, each moving slowly towards Keine, a low murmuring coming from each of them. Keine's response is all out, launching waves of danmaku into the fog, scattering and disrupting the forms, until she finally flies up and out of the fog. Yuyuko comes into sight again a few feet away, smiling. She gestures upwards, and you nod to her and begin your ascent, but notice she's not following. In fact, she's vanished again. Nevertheless, you continue upwards until you leave the fog. As you do, you see Keine, scanning the area for any signs of disturbance.

Slowly, something starts changing in the fog. It starts taking shape as area are uncovered and the fog moves and takes on shapes, slowly becoming a giant face. Keine can only watch as this happens, and you admit that you're a little stunned by this as well. The giant face opens its mouth, and quickly rises up towards Keine, who is too stunned to react as she's swallowed by the giant head. A few seconds afterwards, she floats down, looks around for a few seconds, then flies off. Yuyuko appears again a few seconds later. She's definitely better at this haunting thing than you are. Smiling, Yuyuko reforms herself normally, and you follow suit.

“I think I really shook her up,” Yuyuko says, not bothering to hide her smile. “We should probably go find her and apologize.”

“I'd say,” you muse. “You got me a bit there with some of that. You have to teach me how to do some of those things.” Yuyuko grins widely and starts to fly off until she slows to a stop, looking around. Finally, she turns back to you with a sheepish expression.

“Ah ha... I don't know where she ran off to. It'd be impossible to find her,” she says, floating back towards you. “Let's remember to come back later.” You're about to buy into the idea when you have a sudden thought, and a smile comes to you.

“Actually, we might be able to find her,” you say, resting your hand on the sword at your waist. You're so used to it being there you don't even remember that you're carrying it most of the time. You float away from Yuyuko, gesturing for her to follow you. She does better then that, and simply flies past you, and you draw the Kusanagi, flying up out of the fog. You swing the sword a few times in a circle, building momentum, and then take a large swing upwards in the direction of the village. The wind kicks up instantly and blows past the two of you. Yuyuko yelps a bit at the sudden wind. Right, she's never been exposed to it's power directly like this, has she? You look back to her, and realize that part of the reason for her reaction also stems from the fact that it's causing the bottom of her kimono to blow open. The wind dies down, and Yuyuko straightens out her clothes again, smirking at you.

“My my Kenshiro, I wonder what your true intention there was,” she says, though she doesn't sound too upset. As you had expected, the wind cleared out most of the fog. A few seconds afterwards, as expected, you spot someone coming towards you, Keine.

“Ah, thank you for dealing with this dreadful fog,” she says as she closes in closer. “It's been quite a nuisance for being so early in the morning.”

“I could imagine,” you say, sheathing the blade. “Fog seems to attract strange activity.” Keine looks a bit nervous at that, but keeps her composure.

“Yeah,” is her simple reply.

“That's why we're here now, actually,” you say, scratching your head. “I felt that we should apologize for...” you don't finish the sentence intentionally, as Keine seems to pick up on what you mean pretty quickly, since her eyes narrow at you an- Next thing you know you're laying in the middle of the dirt road, and your forehead hurts. Did Keine just headbutt you? Both Yuyuko and Keine are floating down towards you. Yuyuko looks entirely amused, Keine not so much.

“Let that be a lesson for picking on people,” Keine says, rubbing her forehead and replacing her hat on her head.

“You got hit pretty hard,” Yuyuko says, landing on the ground and kneeling next to you. You have to agree there. You only now have brief memory of the incoming forehead and the fall. The pain has faded already at least, thankfully. You sit up, shaking your head and Yuyuko floats up into the air again. After a few moments to clear your head, you stand up yourself and take to the air again.

“Consider your apology accepted now,” Keine says with a confident grin. She seems pleased with herself. You think to complain because you weren't exactly the one doing the most work, but if it came to you or Yuyuko getting a headbutt like that, you'd rather take it anyway. “Thank you for clearing out the fog as well.”

“It's the least I could do,” you say, nodding a bit.

“Ah, I've still got to prepare my class,” Keine says, floating away. “See you around.” She waves quickly, turning and flying off again. With that done, you and Yuyuko leave the human village, flying back into the air and looking around for anything else that catches your attention. In that consideration, Yuyuko is the next thing to direct it, as she pulls on your arm, pointing off towards a in the distance, the lake that surrounds Remilia's mansion. The sky looks clear over there.

“Let's go there next,” Yuyuko says, tugging your arm in that direction as she starts moving towards it.

“Uh, the lake or-”

“Yeah, the lake,” she says, releasing your arm. Well, you're a little apprehensive getting closer to Remilia, but it's early morning. Would she even go out in the sun to come after you? Actually, more like she'd send Sakuya after you. Nevertheless, you're not going to let your worries interfere. If someone does come out for you, they might hesitate if they see you with Yuyuko. Who knows, maybe you could talk yourself out of a confrontation. You fly with Yuyuko towards the lake.

Closing in on the edge, Yuyuko flies down towards the water with you in pursuit. She skims the water with a hand, slowing down.

“The water feels nice,” she says, looking back at you. “The sky is clear and the weather is warm. The kind of weather that makes you want to swim.” You look down at the water, then at the clothes the two of you are wearing. Not exactly the kind of clothes to be swimming in.

“We don't exactly have anything to swim in though,” you say. A mischievous grin crosses Yuyuko's face.

“Well, we could always just take off what we have and swim,” she says, slipping her fingers under the shoulders of her kimono. Wait, is she serious?

“Ah, you probably shouldn't,” you say. Yuyuko pulls her hands you, her smile changing back into a playful one.

“You were pretty quick to speak up there,” she says, floating closer to you. “Could it be that the idea of me taking off my clothes flusters you?” Well, it would be a lie to say anything else. She does have a rather agreeable figure. She's getting the upper hand on you now, unacceptable! You adopt a devious grin of your own.

“Well, I'd just thought that if we're going to be taking clothes off, I'd rather take yours off myself,” you say. Yuyuko's eyes widen, and she returns your grin.

“Oh, you do have a dirty mind after all!” she says, floating up to you. She stops right in front of you, resting a hand flat on your chest, somewhat hooking her fingers into the folds of your own robe. “I think we have to do something about that...” she nearly whispers. You start to compose a reply when her second hand grabs your arm and a sudden increase in speed breaks your train of thought and you're sent speeding into the water. “Wash your mind out!” Yuyuko shouts as you're thrown. The only reaction you can manage to complete before impact with the waters surface is to grab the Kusanagi to make sure you don't lose it during submersion. After a second of disorientation, you surface and shake the water from your head, overhearing Yuyuko's laughter.

“That's not fair, my guard was down!” you call out, slipping the sword at your waist from it's sheath. Yuyuko can hardly manage to reply through her laughter. Perfect. You focus energy into the sword and raise it from the water. With a quick swing around you plunge it back into the water, and then swing towards Yuyuko. The resulting draft of wind sends a shower of water towards her, and she's easily pelted. She stops laughing to gasp and blink in surprise, then starts laughing all over again before simply dropping into the water on her own. You join in the laughter as well, and when the two of you calm down a bit, you move back towards the shore a bit.

“These clothes aren't so bad to swim in,” Yuyuko says, reaching the shallows and standing up slightly. Being totally soaked, her kimono really clings to her. With a simple pass of her hand though, she seems to completely dismiss all the water, drying it out instantly. Well, it was good while it lasted. She exits the water and the rest of her dries out as she does. You climb out of the water as well, and Yuyuko floats over and tugs on your lapel, and just like that you're dried out as well.

“Being a ghost is pretty handy at times,” you say, running a hand over the dry fabric. “Being able to instantly change states on a whim.”

“It is pretty convenient,” Yuyuko says, floating back up into the air. “You get to have all the good things in life without having the consequences.” Despite how supportive she sounds of the idea, she looks a little sad at the same time. Maybe you should save a question about that for later though, no reason to go chasing questions so early, you wouldn't want to dampen the mood. “Hey, we should come back here some other time. Maybe later and have a proper swim, maybe after we eat! I've always wanted to get a cramp and drown,” she says with her typical happy smile. Already thinking about food again. You fly up, and Yuyuko follows you now. You try to think of things you could do, but despite the time you've spent here in Gensokyo, all the knowledge you have comes from passing interaction and remaining memories of your time in Alice and Hina's bodies. Alice being who she is, or maybe was now considering what kind of effect on her social life you would have had, and Hina... two isolated girls that shut themselves away either for their own safety or for others.

“I don't know where we should go now,” you say, looking around the landscape as you ascend.

“I'll lead you then,” Yuyuko says, flying up to you and taking your hand as she passes. “I have some ideas where we could go.”

---

This isn't technically done, so still no voting. I just figured I'd post what I had so far so as to show I really am getting progress done. This is about... I'd say maybe close to half of what's due, but if I can think of enough ways to kill time, I'd say it would be more like 1/3.

This is a good wall.

Wall needs expansion.

This is late, but I rather liked this update. Can't wait for the next one!

I'll be starting on finishing this tomorrow, but I won't promise anything until at least monday. The last few days were spent dealing with computer issues and seeing if everything stabilized itself as well as general life shit.

>>90743

Hooray!

Strange question:

[] Post incremental updates for the wall.
[] Hold off until the entire thing is finished.

Turns out that in getting back to working on it, I've been writing the next part and it's looking to end up just as long, if not possibly end up longer than the last part, and this is still just before noon. At this rate I think it's going to be gearing up to be the largest wall this site's seen, which is why I pose this question.

[] Post incremental updates for the wall.

[] Post incremental updates for the wall.

[X] Post incremental updates for the wall.

[X] Post incremental updates for the wall.

If you build it, they will come.

You follow Yuyuko's lead, and her lead takes the two of you towards te eastern mountains. More specifically, Reimu's shrine. The way there is overcast and raining in some spots, though the shrine grounds themselves remain sunny and clear as always, one of the few places where it truly seems like summer. Reimu is already out on the grounds, sweeping the lot despite the few loiters on the grounds already. Seems people are still coming here to escape the crazy weather around the area, though you wonder. With so many people lingering around, they can't all be from the human village, so if they're youkai, where exactly do they live?

“Reimu~” Yuyuko calls out, catching the shrine maidens attention. She looks up at the two of you, and then waves.

“What are you two doing out here so early?” Reimu asks as you get closer. Yuyuko floats up to you and clasps onto your arm.

“We're having a day out. Kenshiro's been so busy working even in death that he'll achieve enlightenment in no time!” Yuyuko gushes. Reimu just barely manages to resist a smirk.

“I don't think I'm on that fast a track to that,” you say. Truthfully, you're not entirely sure what you need to do to achieve enlightenment, but you can bet you haven't been doing it. Yuyuko tugs on your arm a bit, then lets go, floating down to Reimu.

“I thought we should stop by to see you while we were out, see how you were again,” Yuyuko says. Reimu scratches her head with the tip of the broom shaft, grinning a little.

“I know you're worried about me, but I'll be fine, really,” Reimu says. Yuyuko clasps her hands together for a moment, looking a little sad over something, then she suddenly lunges forward, wrapping her arms around Reimu and pulling her face first into her.

“Oh! Dear Reimu, acting so strong when you're crying inside! It's okay, you can cry for me!” Yuyuko melodramatically declares while Reimu puts up slight resistance.

“No, really,” Reimu manages to get out, finally shaking herself from Yuyuko's grasp. “I'm really okay. I was pissed at first, but I've already got plans in motion to get it fixed. For free, no less,” Reimu continues, finishing with a grin. “Now on the other hand, I could go on at length about these layabout youkai.” You look around. Even though Reimu put quite a bit of emphasis and volume into that last part, absolutely no one has reacted at all. “They spend all day sitting around here just because being hot is better than being in the rain, and they don't even lend a hand to help with anything. Youkai loitering shamelessly on shrine property, it's...” Reimu drifts off shaking her head. “Seriously, this is a much bigger problem than the weather. I can't even enjoy peace and quiet because of all the talking around here.” You spend a moment looking around again. Maybe if you could-

“How about we chase them away for you?” Yuyuko asks, floating up off the ground slightly. Reimu looks a bit skeptical.

“Eh, that's too troublesome,” Reimu says, leaning on her broom slightly. “Someone just has to resolve this weather and everything will go back to normal, right?”

“Mmm, I suppose,” Yuyuko replies, humming to herself afterwards. You recall a strange feeling you had, and you once again start to suspect that Yuyuko knows more about what's going on than she lets on. You'll ask her about that later though. You hear a muffled whistling, and Reimu perks up.

“Oh, break time!” she says.

“Tea?” Yuyuko asks.

“You two want to come in for a cup?” Reimu questions, and Yuyuko immediately jumps at the offer. Might as well. The three of you head inside, and Reimu directs you to the usual table while she disappears into another room. She returns shortly, and takes a seat, pouring everyone's cups and passing them out.

“Is Suika asleep?” you ask, a little curious as to why you hadn't seen her.

“Actually, she's not here right now. I'm not sure where she went,” Reimu says, taking her cup to her lips. You actually have a hard time imagining where Suika would go as well. Actually, you don't really have much of an idea what someone like her would do if she wasn't laying around. “I wish she was here for once, her ability is useful for clearing people out, make them gather up somewhere else.” You imagine that would be rather handy to have.

Some time passes while Reimu and Yuyuko talk between themselves on a variety of small topics, tea, Gensokyo, upcoming events and the like, small talk. You end up kind of taking a back seat, the attained memories only helping you with the past, not quite current and future events. You find yourself looking out the open door. As you watch, you notice several more youkai appearing on the property. You can see what Reimu meant about the quiet, there's already a bit of a low murmur from the gathered people already, but not enough to interrupt the ongoing conversation inside. Eventually the conversation lulls, and Reimu looks past you through the door as well.

“Ah, they're gathering up here quickly today,” she says with a sigh. You down the last of your cup, and Yuyuko finishes hers shortly afterwards. “I think I'm going to go for a fly today.”

“Oh, you want to join us?” Yuyuko asks. Reimu gives a small smile.

“No, you two enjoy your time together, I'm going to finish sweeping first. There's a lot more to clean up now it seems,” she says, picking up the cups and tea set. You and Yuyuko stand from the table, heading towards the door. “I might cross paths with you later though, who knows.”

“We'll be leaving now then,” Yuyuko says, stepping through the threshold.

“See you around Reimu,” you say, bidding your own farewell as you lift off after Yuyuko. The two of you fly away from the shrine and head back down along towards the human village.

“I wonder if Keine's got her class going already,” Yuyuko says absently, dipping slightly from her course. She looks over at you. “Want to go check it out?” she asks. Well, you are a bit interested in what kind of education children here could be getting. You're not expecting much, really. Most of Gensokyo seems to predate electricity, and being contained within the border as it is...

“I think it could be interesting,” you say. Yuyuko grins widely, and then swoops towards the village. You follow along, realizing along the way a distant memory. You seem to remember where the school building was, though why exactly you can't quite recall. It only takes a few minutes to reach the large building, and the two of you touch down outside the doors. Yuyuko opens one of the doors and pokes her head in.

“Coast looks clear,” Yuyuko says, pulling the door open and stepping in. You follow and quickly catch up along side of her. You're in a hallway with some cupboards lining the wall, filled with various small items and shoes. Must be lockers, or at least the closest equivalent. You can hear who you assume to be Keine talking. You two proceed down the hall, stopping outside a door. The voice is coming through loud, and you can see Keine through a small window in the door. Yep, she's in the middle of a class. Doesn't stop her from noticing the two of you though, especially once Yuyuko starts energetically waving for her. After a few minutes, she wraps up, then heads over to the door, stepping out of the classroom.

“What brings you two here?” Keine asks, sounding rather strict. Guess she would, since she's on the clock, so to say.

“We thought we'd stop by to see how things were doing,” Yuyuko says, stepping aside and clapping a hand on your shoulder. “Kenshiro here would like to make up for earlier today still, so he's offered to talk to your class about the outside world.” Keine's eyes widen a bit, and a small smile forms on her face, meanwhile you have a similar reaction, with the exception of your mouth dropping open.

“Wait, what,” you start, but Yuyuko cuts you off with a short giggle.

“Don't get nervous now!” Yuyuko says. “They're just children after all.”

“Well, I wouldn't mind having a guest speaker,” Keine says, crossing her arms under her bust. Seems she's bought into the idea now too. Ah hell, just suck it up, they're kids. You recover from your brief shock and muster a smile yourself.

“Well then, let's get going,” Keine says, stepping back to the door. “You two wait here, I'll get the class prepared and signal for you to enter.” Keine then opens the door and returns to the class, immediately calling their attention. She spends a short while explaining the new situation, that there's a surprise guest speaking from the 'Outside' that has come to talk to everyone. While Keine talks, Yuyuko steps in front of you.

“Can't have you walking in there like that,” she says, resting her hands on your shoulders. “No one will believe you're from the outside.” With a quick flick of her hands, you look down and see your form shimmering. The yukata and hakama you were wearing replaced by... well, they at least look inspired by outside fashion. It looks closer to something you might see in one of those JRPGs, a vest, bright colours, strange symbols, two different chains, a belt for no reason, and what's with these zippers everywhere? Before you're even able to complain, you see Keine waving you in. Great, well whatever, no escape now you guess. Yuyuko opens the door for you and you enter. Keine tries to suppress her surprise and succeeds admirably. Keine gestures to a spot towards the front of the class and you walk up, then turn to the room. Yeah, all the kids are sitting wide-eyed already just at the sight of you, and you can already hear some whispering. Oh hell, you didn't even think of anything to sa-

“You're really from the outside?” a kid asks loudly, and then the room just explodes into noise. Wow, this is chaos. You see Yuyuko outside the door laughing, and Keine trying to calm the class. Eventually she succeeds, and apologizes for the madness. With that aside, at least you had enough time, as short as it was, to compose at least a few thoughts. You start with your name, going with the given 'Kenshiro', and go into a short introduction about what your life had been like before you came to Gensokyo. Naturally, you leave out the part about being dead. After that's done, you get into a few details about various things, cars, movies, technology in general. The class seems to be getting edgy again already though, so you decide t give the talking a break. Keine takes over from there, neatly putting a closing statement on your talk, and then allowing a question session. As to be expected, every damn kid in the room has a question.

You spend quite a lot of time dealing with the questions, a lot based on what you've been talking about, but there were a few from some kids that they seemed to have heard about from other sources, and not all of them were questions you could answer, either because the explanation was something that was outside of your knowledge of the subject, or because it wasn't something you knew existed. What was a Probability Space Hypervessel anyway? The Q&A winds down, and the kids all start talking amongst themselves until Keine lets them have a break, at which point the room begins to scatter, and you're lead back out into the hall by Keine, to an awaiting Yuyuko.

“That was pretty good,” Yuyuko says with a grin, flicking one of the oversized zippers on your vest, causing the entire outfit to disintegrate back into the more plain outfit you had been wearing.

“I'm sorry the kids were a little rowdy,” Keine says, bowing slightly. “The Outside is something they're naturally all interested in, so having the chance to hear someone explain more about it is exciting to them, even if it's mostly trivial details.”

“It was no problem, really,” you say. “Even though I was kind of blindsided by this, it turned out better than I thought, for me especially.” You grin, and Keine chuckles a little bit.

“You know, you're a little unrefined at it, but I think you could be a pretty good teacher,” Keine says. “Honestly, the one class is already getting too big for just one person to handle, and at the rate the population has been growing, in a generation or two there really will be too many.” Well, that's a bit of a surprise. Yuyuko looks surprised as well, and turns to you with a happy grin.

“Teacher Kenshiro!” Yuyuko says, tapping her chin with a finger. “I think I like the sound of that!”

“I'd have to think about something like that,” you say, looking back into the classroom through the window. “I can't really say for sure if or when I'm going to end up moving along, so I don't know if I'd even be around long enough to fulfill a role like that.”

“Oh,” Keine says, a little taken back by your comment. She looks a little apologetic. “Sorry I asked then, I didn't realize your future.”

“I'll keep it in mind though,” you say, smiling. “It's good to have a purpose.” Keine looks a little better, but still retains a hint of sadness. Yuyuko tugs on your sleeve again to catch your attention.

“We should go get something to eat, it's getting kind of close to lunch,” she says.

“It is nearly that time,” Keine adds.

“Let's go then, have some lunch,” Yuyuko says, moving down the hall. “Good bye Keine!”

“Good bye!” she calls back, returning to the classroom as the two of you leave the building. They were right, it's looking to be getting pretty close to noon, though your ability to tell time by the position of the sun is a little rusty. Still.

“Got any ideas on where to go?” you ask. Yuyuko nods, floating up into the air.

“I have a good place in mind,” she says. Well, that makes it a bit easier you guess. You follow her lead again as she flies over the village, landing in a clearing near the markets. The smell of food was already filling the air, with several restaurants and smaller stalls opening and serving customers. Before you catch up, Yuyuko makes her way to one stand in particular, set up next to an alleyway, and tended by a tall, gaunt man with a red mane of hair and brown wolf ears. You catch a brief glimpse of a tail before he turns to face the counter.

“Oh, hey girl!” the man greets Yuyuko as she approaches. She smiles at the man.

“Hello Keiji,” she says, pulling up a stool at the counter. You tag along and take a seat as well, and the guy looks you over. “This is a friend of mine, Kenshiro. He's a ghost too.” The man smiles, leaning forward over the counter a bit.

“You don't say,” he muses. “So when'd you die?”

“Uh,” you don't really have an answer. How long ago was it? A little more than a week you think, right? “I'm not really sure, wasn't that long ago though.”

“That's rough,” he says, leaning back from the counter. “So, what will you be having?” he asks, looking at Yuyuko. “You probably want the usual.” Yuyuko gives an enthusiastic nod.

“Actually, he'll be having the same thing,” Yuyuko says, turning to you with a smile. 'Keiji' smiles as well. You're not sure you like this smile, but what could be the harm? He sets to work immediately, pulling a large slab of meat from behind the counter and quickly slicing it into strips with, well, his claws apparently. It's not exactly hard to tell this guy's a youkai at least. He tosses the strips onto a hot metal pan set into the counter in front of him, then retrieves a few other things from behind the counter, including a tray carrying a bottle and two small cups.

“Here you go,” he says, sliding the tray forward.

“Thank you!” Yuyuko cheers, grabbing up the bottle and pouring into the cups. You were expecting alcohol, but it's just water. You still drink, pleased to find that it's rather chilled. You watch as the man places several peppers on the counter now, and slices through them easily, tossing the cut pieces into a bowl with some kind of sauce.

“So, you ended up in Hakugyokuro, huh? Lucky guy, beautiful place,” Keiji says, looking at you while adding more slices of pepper to the bowl. “I head up there with my family every so often for the flower viewing festivals, it's crazy, though I suppose you haven't been around long enough to see it yet, huh?” You shake your head.

“It looks pretty good in snow, however,” you say. Keiji looks surprised for a second, then grins again.

“Guess even this crazy weather is reaching there too, huh?” he says while turning the meat over. “Thankfully it stays pretty good around here.”

“How's business been?” Yuyuko asks. Keiji chuckles a bit.

“Good as ever. I'd say that this crazy weather has been a hassle, but it's the hassles it causes for others that makes it worth it for me,” he says with a smirk. “Snow and rain can make it hard to work, and strong sunlight tire folks out quickly. I'm not the only one that gets all the business from people being affected by this incident, but I'm not complaining about my share of it either.” After that, he brings up two red bowls with intricate flame designs on the side from behind the counter, and opens some container off to the side. With a wide spoon, he scoops out some rice and nearly fills the bowls. Once that's done, he produces a red bottle and liberally pours the sauce within into the rice, adding the meat afterwards, and finishing by adding the soaked peppers, followed with more sauce from the bowl. With the addition of chopsticks, he places the two bowls on the divider between his counter and the two of you. You think you know what to expect now.

“Keiji's Blazing Beef Bowl,” Yuyuko says, picking up one of the mentioned bowls. “Fit only for ghosts to eat, because it will kill anything alive,” she adds with a wink. You take the remaining bowl, as well as the new bottle. Yuyuko sets into hers rather quickly, and you take a small sample of your own. While you're surprised to find that it's not quite as hot as you'd imagined at first, that quickly changes as the full force of everything catches up to you in a burning sensation that makes it all to clear. Keiji can see it in your face and starts laughing.

“Hell of a thing, ain't it?” he asks. You take another mouthful of the spicy rice dish, it is rather delicious, and the burning sensation of all the spices and peppers is a strangely addictive feeling. You'd stop to answer, but you know from handling spicy food in the past that once yous top is when the burning really get to you. All you can do is keep eating, it only briefly crosses your mind if the pain from spicy food is handled the same way that pain from injuries are felt, because if so, you could understand why Yuyuko says this is only fit for ghosts. Yuyuko polishes off her bowl first, obviously quite accustomed to this, but you're not too far behind. Once done though, the burning intensifies, and you go straight for the water.

“I'm impressed, you've got a steel tongue and an iron stomach as well,” Keiji says, almost proudly. “I thought you wouldn't be able to handle it.” Truth be told, you're starting to think it might have been a bad idea, because your mouth feels like it's on fire. You did enjoy it though. “Hah, at the least you lost your voice to the burn.”

“I wasn't able to finish my first bowl,” Yuyuko says, leaning towards you. “I wasn't as good with spicy food then though.”

“I'm glad to see you come as far as you have since then,” Keiji says, nodding to Yuyuko. “Downing a blazing bowl without hesitation, it's the peak of eating power!” Yuyuko smiles again, leaning back slightly.

“It's a tough life being such a strong eater,” Yuyuko says with a wink. Keiji chuckles, taking the bowls back behind the counter. “What's the cost?”

“Half the normal price,” Keiji says, nodding towards you. “Your friend did well.”

“I trained him well,” Yuyuko jokes.

“It's good training,” you say, the burning having finally subsided enough to be bearable. Yuyuko fishes out a small coin purse from within her sleeve and takes out a few coins, placing them on the counter for Keiji. With a swipe, he scoops up the coins and salutes.

“See you around, kids,” he says as Yuyuko slides from her seat, and you take after her. A few steps from the stall and Yuyuko starts flying again, and so do you.

“That was hotter than anything I've ever eaten,” you say, your mouth still throbbing.

“But it's so good,” Yuyuko replies, turning around as the two of you ascend. “Best thing to do after a hot meal is to go someplace cool, and I've got just the place in mind.” She takes your hand again, and leads you off once more.

---

Right now, I'm not sure if I would say it's 2/3's done or 1/2. I guess I'll know by the time I get started on the next segment.

Holy shit huge semi-update is huge. It was definitely for the best that you didn't post it all at once. The wait would have been unbearable, and we all would have been crushed!

>“You know, you're a little unrefined at it, but I think you could be a pretty good teacher,” Keine says. “Honestly, the one class is already getting too big for just one person to handle, and at the rate the population has been growing, in a generation or two there really will be too many.” Well, that's a bit of a surprise. Yuyuko looks surprised as well, and turns to you with a happy grin.

Well, we know how to solve Keine's problems. Either possess a Touhou that has a knack for teaching, or maybe even encourage Yuyuko to become one. She's fun, smarter than given credit for, and looks very attractive in glasses. She would benefit a lot from interacting with children on a daily basis I think. It would be something she could be proud of.

Patchouli is a natural choice, but I don't know if it'd be cool with Alice that we borrowed her girlfriend. Getting her more air & sun, and making her more socially active would probably be a big plus to Alice, though. It's definitely not something she would start doing on her own, however, but I'm certain the futility of trying to hoard all the knowledge in the world catches up to her. Or maybe it would if someone introduced her to the mess of incompleteness and computability.

Or perhaps more cheekily, we can instill a desire for Cirno to be "the smartest" by telling her "knowledge is power" and baiting her that the head teacher of Gensokyo is a position held by the smartest, who constantly defend their titles by answering people's questions.

Another possibility would be to take somebody from the outside. Yukari might know some people would like to live in Gensokyo; I'm thinking of a certain two university students majoring in physics and psychology.

>Cirno
>head teacher
This is simultaneously the best and the worst idea ever.

I saw what you did there, Mode.

DON'T THINK IT WENT UNNOTICED.

updates?

>>91762

Sometime soon, next day or so. I've been preoccupied. Writing these wall sections burns me out for the rest of the day, my brother visited for three days, I've been celebrating my acceptance into university, as well as just being a lazy faggot. Laundry list of excuses! Wait patiently and you shall be rewarded!

>>91788
>Wait patiently and you shall be rewarded!

Hooray!

No updates yet, but I do have something to share, courtesy of IRC's Pygmalion.

Damn nice! Makes me want a picture for myself...

>>92192

Kenshiro looking somewhat disagreeable

>>92238

His real name is Nobody

>>92242

I know. Just wondering why he seems so bitter about it.

>>92245

Because even he's getting annoyed by the lack of updates.

updates?

>>93544

Working on it now.

>>93591

hooray!

You spend some time flying to the next destination. You're not sure where it is that you're going, but you're being lead towards the youkai mountain none-the-less.

“I found a peaceful pond on the mountain there a while ago,” Yuyuko says, looking back at you. “It's a nice place, hidden in the shade.” You don't have anything in particular to say, but it strikes you as strange. You're not really sure when Yuyuko would have been to this mountain. She said she hardly leaves Hakugyokuro, and while you don't really know where she'd have gone before, you don't really imagine that she'd go exploring mountains. It's not that big of a concern though, and you soon chase it from your mind as you fly over the trees that line the mountain. A few minutes later and you're at the edge of a heavily wooded area, a thin stream of water runs into the pond, having split off from the river nearby. Even though it's still day, the area around the pond is a gloomy kind of dark from the trees overhead. Like Yuyuko said as well, it's rather cool here as well, unusually so.

“This is kind of an out of the way place,” you say, following Yuyuko into the area and to a large rock at the edge of the water, where she sits.

“That's what makes it good,” she says with a smile, looking out over the water. “This quiet place is nice to relax, listen to the frogs and watch fireflies at night. It's really enjoyable to just relax and enjoy nature like this.” You walk up to the rock and take a seat next to her.

“You must like nature,” you say, not really having much else on your mind. Yuyuko issues a breathy sigh.

“I enjoy life,” she says, leaning back on her palms. “Well, watching it. Seeing people and animals go about their lives as best they can, living to make the most of their short time, even if it ends up nothing more than a weak struggle against time.” Yuyuko's voice drops off a bit into a sad tone. “I've been around so long, known so many people and watch them live their life, have kids, grow old and die, and I never change. I feel guilty, to be able to cause death in the living, without really knowing what it's like to be dead.” You'd raise an objection over that last bit, but she still has a point. She's a ghost, still 'living' even though she's not alive.

“That has to be hard,” you say, attempting to console her. “I've only been dead for a little while, I guess I don't understand what that's like to be, well, eternal.” Yuyuko slouches a bit, looking at you with sad eyes.

“I'm thankful that you're here, the first real company I've had that I don't have to worry about dying on me,” Yuyuko says, a slight smile coming to her face. “Even though I say that, I'm sad for you. I don't want you to have to know the same feelings I've felt,” she continues, pulling her legs up onto the rock and hugging her knees. “I want you to enjoy a brief time to make sure you have no regrets in life before you continue on.” You feel a sinking feeling in your stomach.

“Yuyuko...” you manage to say, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You don't deserve this,” she says, weakly trying to shrug your hand off. “Living on while everyone else around you dies and leaves you. Youmu too will one day grow into an old woman and die. Even Yukari might one day leave me, I'll always be here.”

“Why don't you, well, 'continue' on?” you ask, though you're hesitant to ask the question.

“I can't, I'm being punished,” she says. “I'm bound to live forever as a ghost for my sin.” Sin? Somehow you you have a hard time imagining that Yuyuko could have done anything like that.

“What kind of sin could you have commit to be punished for eternity?” you ask. Yuyuko seems to withdraw even more, sagging her head into her knees. She doesn't reply for a long time.

“I killed myself,” she says quietly, turning her head away from you. “I couldn't bear to live with the power I have, taking people's lives with selfish thoughts and irrational bursts of emotion. I was terrified of what I would become, so I took my own life to stop myself. For that, I'm bound to live forever as the princess of the netherworld. I can never be reborn.”

You don't know what to say to that, but you slide closer to Yuyuko and put an arm over her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She doesn't react at first, but after a minute or so she rubs her head against your hand.

“I'm a selfish person,” Yuyuko says. “I make constant demands of Youmu without ever doing anything for her, I run around and do whatever I please, worrying those around me,” she pauses. “I even made you come with me today to have fun, to keep memories of you with me forever so I wouldn't regret missing my only chance to truly feel happy when it's your time to pass on.” Once more you don't have anything to say, you just sit there with your arm around Yuyuko, trying to find some words you can say to make her feel better. How can you even deal with something like eternal punishment though? This goes beyond the physical, this would be more like universal law of life and death. Is there anything you could do? The answer comes to you after a while of thought, but it's difficult for you to say.

“Yuyuko,” you start, leaning forward a little. She raises her head slightly, looking towards you. “I'm sorry you've had to experience all you have. I can't even imagine how much it must hurt to live like that, watching anyone you might care for wither away in front of you. I'm sorry to say that I might not be able to help you,” you say, pausing for a second. “I want you to know though, that if I want to stay with you as long as possible. If I can do anything to make your life more enjoyable in my time, I'd be glad to... but...” you trail off, swallowing the lump in your throat. “If I could find a way to make you pass on, would you want to?” Yuyuko's expression suddenly turns to surprise, raising her head more. She's entirely lost for words, obviously, and you're already regretting saying it. Until she starts laughing, a quiet giggle at first, but quickly growing into full out laughter.

“Pass on?” Yuyuko asks, catching her breath once her laughter starts to slow down. “That's a nice thought...” Yuyuko smiles with a slight chuckle. “If I can't live forever happily, I'd rather rest in peace. I've seen too many people die upset with their lives, and aren't able to reconcile their problems even in death. I've been like that myself now for a thousand years, regretting my choices in life and wishing I'd lived a normal life.” Yuyuko looks back out at the water. “I'd have been able to be a mother and have a family of my own, finally dying as an old woman. I want to be reborn, to have a second chance at that kind of life.”

“I'm glad you didn't freak out,” you say, breathing a sigh of relief. “I was worried what you'd do if I said I would kill you, basically.” Yuyuko turns to face you, taking up your hands.

“It's a crazy idea, but please,” Yuyuko stops for a second, becoming serious. “If you can find a way to do it, please, please, put my soul to rest. I don't want to spend eternity alone.” You feel the lump in your throat again.

“I promise, if I have to, I'll put your soul to rest,” you say. Even hearing yourself makes it sound completely alien. Yuyuko however, smiles.

“It still sounds ridiculous,” she says with a smile. “It's also the most romantic thing someone's ever said to me.” Yuyuko leans in and gives you a small kiss on the cheek. She leans back, and looks down. “I'm feeling selfish again, I want you to stay with me forever now, be restless souls together.” You feel a whole new kind of lump in your throat.

“You know, the more time I spend with you, the more I think I might be able to enjoy that,” you say. Yuyuko leans in to kiss you again, but this time it's not on the cheek, and you don't just sit back and let her do it alone. You break away after a minute.

“That was a little sudden,” Yuyuko says, sounding suddenly embarrassed and blushing to match. You feel about the same.

“If I do stay, though, it'll be after I've done everything I can for anyone that needs help,” you say. “I've got a lot of people with problems to help still.”

“I understand,” Yuyuko replies, bowing her head. “I wouldn't want to hold you back from your calling.” Yuyuko sldies cloer and then leans into you, resting her head on your shoulder. With nothing else to say, you simply place your arm back around her shoulder and look out over the water with her. You don't know how long the two of you sit there just watching the pond, the frogs on the banks and the small fish swimming around beneath the surface.

“We came here to relax and ended up having a pretty serious conversation,” you say. Yuyuko hums in acknowledgement.

“It was worth it though, something nice happened,” she says. Your mind jumps back to what she said earlier, about her wish to be alive again so she could have a family.

“About something you said earlier,” you start talking. “About wishing you had a chance to have a family?”

“I was still quite young when I killed myself,” Yuyuko says. “I'm sure it's obvious, given how I look the same age. I was just barely an adult, but with how terrified I was of my power, I was afraid of getting close to anyone because I might accidentally kill them. I never got to have a relationship.”

“So would that be why you've acted like you did to me? Playing how you did and whatnot? Clumsy attempts at flirting?” you ask, though you think the answer is pretty clear. Yuyuko giggles a bit.

“I guess it was a bit transparent, but that's okay because I'm a ghost,” she says. “I saw a chance to feel like a normal girl again and I took it because I'm selfish.” You just smile and squeeze her, and Yuyuko responds with a hug of her own. “So if you don't mind, let me enjoy this happiness while I can.” You don't particularly have a problem with it. After another long while, Yuyuko sits up and stretches a little.

“You feeling better now?” you ask. Yuyuko nods.

“I feel a lot better, really,” she says. “We should probably head back though, I'm out of ideas for the day.” Yuyuko floats into the air off the rock, and you lift yourself into the air as well. Yuyuko starts to fly away from the pond, and you catch up to her, heading back into the air.

**

Some time later you reach the top of the stairs at Hakugyokuro.

“I had a good time today,” Yuyuko says, floating ahead a little. “I think I need a bit of a nap.” Yuyuko drifts off on her own then, leaving you alone at the top of the stairs with no idea what do to with the rest of your time for the day.

---

So that would be the end of that. Turned out shorter than I expected, but now we're back to voting.

[x] Go to your room and practice distance manipulation. Make it short distances, say from your bed to the door and repeat as necessary.

I have a question: if Yuyuko passes on, who'd watch over the netherworld? And what'd bind that Youkai cherry tree in place?

I suppose that what we have to figure out in the story.

[x] Go to your room and practice distance manipulation. Make it short distances, say from your bed to the door and repeat as necessary.

>>93625
>if Yuyuko passes on, who'd watch over the netherworld? And what'd bind that Youkai cherry tree in place?

The Yama, of course. They are the ones who made Yuyuko the princess of the netherworld.

But before asking yourself that, you sohuld have asked how are we going to do free her. I can think of a few possibilities, and not all of them are viable:

1)Redo PCB and break the seal on the tree.

This will be incredibly hard to do. It can be done, but it may harm many people and Reimu will hunt Nobody until time itself has ended. Maybe, after we have helped everyone and have them indebted to Nobody, we could have some cooperation? It should be best left for last, after every other routes have been done.
2)Change places with her

No idea how, it's just a thought. And by sacrificing himself, maybe Nobody will receive a major karma boost.
3)Forgive her sin.

If the sin is forgiven, there won't be a need for punishment. But who has the authority to forgive sins? The Yama. Or god that is either powerful enough or rules over the matter.
4)Have the Yama release her.

The safest way. Though how we can convince the Yama is another problem. Direct diplomacy is out of the question, so we will need someone to do this for us. Befriending Komachi could help, but Shikieiki probably won't give her much credit. The ones who could have a face-to-face talk with the Yama are higher divinities, I think. No nine tailed fox, mind you, but a god. Now, considering the multitude of gods in Gensokyo, only a few may have the respect and authority to change the Yama's decision, and I don't know if Kanako or Suwako have any say in a soul's judgment.

Also, new thread please.

>>93641

Sage limit is now 250 or so it seems.

>>93642

The problem is not the autosage, but the thread's size.

>>93641

I don't think the Yama could really allow her to pass on. They may have made her the princess of the netherworld, but they're not the ones who sealed the Saigyou Ayakashi - she did that either on her own, or with help from either her family or Yukari. I think this is less a case of her being barred from passing on, and more a case of her being completely unable to pass on.

Allowing Yuyuko to pass on would necessarily break the seal on the Saigyou Ayakashi, because it's based on her life - she's dead in a sense, but bear in mind the PCB mentions explicitly that breaking the seal would resurrect her, "killing" the ghostly Yuyuko we all know and love. The implication seems to be that Yuyuko is still connected to her body in some sense - that her body is still "alive," or in a reasonably close condition - and if she were to move on, her body's "life," such as it is, would probably end, thereby shattering the seal on the tree.

In short, helping out Yuyuko in this regard would cause a lot of problems, specifically because we'd have to work out some way to reseal the Saigyou Ayakashi, and that in no way would be easy. It's an exceptionally strong youkai even in canon. The other option is to find some way of killing it outright, but given that even Yukari doesn't appear to have figured that one out yet...

Worth noting as well, Yuyuko still doesn't know it's her body buried beneath the Saigyou Ayakashi.

[x] Go to your room and practice distance manipulation. Make it short distances, say from your bed to the door and repeat as necessary.

We need to get this shit down so we don't suddenly teleport into people accidentally.

>>93656

I thought she got her memories back at the end of PCB?

1) Youmu has a sword that can slay ghosts.
2) Yukari might try to stop you should she catch on that you might really be capable of this.
3) A seal of equal potency would allow the current seal to be broken without injury. We've got two shrine maidens and a few gods on our side; I think we can do it, but it'll probably require joint effort. At the very least we'll need to help Reimu in this incident first.
4) It's a youkai tree, so in theory it can be killed or exterminated.
5) It may also be possible to possess the tree and either dislodge the evil spirit or change its pattern of behavior.

Anyway, the most pressing matter is SWR. Suwako creamed us because we suck at swordplay. I suggest we keep training and get Youmu to fight her. While she keeps her busy, or if she doesn't go for it, we can get pointers from Kanako.

[x] You spent today with Yuyuko, which means you haven't yet practiced your swordsmanship.
-[x] Suggest to Youmu how she might be able to resolve this incident herself, by challenging Suwako.
[x] Visit the Moriya shrine yourself.
-[x] Ask Kanako to tell you the story of how she defeated Suwako.
-[x] Find out what divinity you're descended from.

>>93659

She knows there's a body beneath the tree, but not whose. Also; author interpretation.

So, new thread? Y/N?

>>93717

Yes.

>1) Youmu has a sword that can slay ghosts

That's not going to happen, unless we possess her, and her revenge would be harsh. She will only do it if it's a direct order from Yuyuko herself, but how to make that happen is beyone me.

>>93757

Uh, she essentially tried doing the same thing in PCB by unsealing the tree. If Yuyuko really wants to pass on, Youmu is not going to get in the way of her wishes.

>>93760

Yuyuko wasn't aware of the full effects of her plans (She was more into making that tree bloom), and Youmu was too young to know, and Yuyuko's memories kinda decayed to the point where she forgot it's her body and soul under there.

>>93760

She didn't know her spirit would disappear if the seal had been broken.

>>93832

Again, if Yuyuko wants to pass on, Youmu is not going to get in the way of her wishes.